Age of Aquarius (Arc 62)
by TheElephantInThePrideParade
Summary: SEQUEL to Age of Aquarius (Act 61). The senshi successfully defeated a sunspot army, but their enemy still lies in wait. To survive, more of the senshi will need to unlock their past lives & full powers. But tensions are running high in public & private, & the silver millennium's skeletons are falling out of the closet - the senshi may have more than they can handle. MANY PAIRINGS
1. The Sailor Accountability Initiative

AN: AND AQUARIUS IS BACK AND I MIGHT BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT IT THAN YOU (Probably definitely am the most excited to continue this). More Silver Millennium! More family drama! More media being buttheads! More Senshi lore! AND BEST OF ALL MORE SENSHI! 3 3 3 Okay. I've had my moment. Lets get on with this.

AN for my SMH readers: Yes, I WILL absolutely be working on SMH 2 as well. In fact you should have chapter 10 by _**next weekend**_. But I have been very stressed lately, in no small part due to the President-Elect-who-shall-not-be-named, and thus I needed to get started on Aquarius. Aquarius is the project that makes me the happiest and lowers my stress levels. SMH is the project that is the most fun for all the technical challenges it presents. I'm hoping that by alternating between both, I will keep myself in a good mood, which will benefit the quality of writing in both.

Disclaimer: I have never owned Sailor Moon, I never will unless the universe decides to let me have a very very good day and impress Naoko a whole hell of a lot. So I make no money on this. And I never will. I just write it cause its good for my soul. I dream of a day it can be a manga or an anime or fan art, but just writing it is so incredibly satisfying by itself.

 _Last time in_ _Age of Aquarius Act 61_ _: The Senshi defeated the enemy's major offensive against the Earth, sending it and its sunspots into retreat and putting permanent protection over their homes in Juuban. But the enemy still lies in wait, its sunspots growing strong again within the cores of Sol's many still-dead worlds. Even as they celebrate, the Senshi must plan for the next offensive. Meanwhile, between the rhetoric of the Ainos' and the damage wrought during their battle with the sunspot army, the Senshi may find they have even more problems at home…_

 **The Anti-Sailor Initiative**

" _Clean up continues in Azu-Juuban this morning. Behind me you can see they've begun assessing the reconstruction needs of the TV tower. Temporary infrastructure has been put in place to meet some service needs, though we're hearing that full service is not projected to be restored until a few months from now. And some experts speculate that, given the devastating damage to businesses and residences, reconstruction of the tower may take a backseat..."_

"You're sure you want to watch that?" Souichi Tomoe asked his daughter as he packed her school lunch.

Hotaru nodded, lips pursed, sitting closer to the TV than he preferred, but he knew by now reminding her to move back was a futile effort. He watched the image behind the newscaster shift to a still image of the sunspots the senshi had defeated mere days ago.

" _Even more concerning is that we're unsure exactly what kinds of dark forces caused this invasion, though this picture taken the night of the battle points to one unsettling possibility…"_

Across the city on the east side of ruined Azu Juuban, Minako scowled as she plopped down onto the couch next to Haruka. "Unsettling, meaning completely off base?"

"Shhh," Michiru told her. She was sitting on the other side of the couch, and Setsuna was leaning over the back, all of them were listening intently to the news.

" _Here you see the shadows reduced to crystal form. You'll recall Sailor Moon has a crystal much like this. Now here…you see these crystals reforming and creating whole humanoid figures. Though clearly not human – an important distinction. See here: this one has horns! Four eyes. Decidedly alien if not demonic in origin. And they… if we zoom in here… yes. They have a symbol on their foreheads very similar to Moon's and Venus'."_

Rei sipped her tea, eyes on the small television set.

Her grandfather came in and settled down at the table beside her. "What nonsense are they babbling about now?"

" _We've called in a researcher who's studied the Senshi extensively to give us his perspective of this – Akimoto-sensei."_

" _Thank you Okayasu-san. Yes, well a couple things to be noted here are that the presence of a crystal and the forehead symbol suggest that these are the same species as the Sailor Senshi – you'll recall we've seen something like this before when the likes of Sailors Aluminium Siren and Iron Mouse also invaded and caused massive damage while searching for our senshi._

" _So now what we must consider is that our senshi may be fugitives from whatever forces past and present have hunted them. We can point to several instances where they defeated real threats to Earth – but if this is now their home as well it should only be expected that they would care for it._

" _No, what concerns me is that these enemies, unlike the last Sailors who came here hunting ours, either give much less consideration to collateral damage or do not care how much of the planet they hurt in the process."_

" _Now wait just a minute, Akimoto, if you're saying that senshi are not from our world, could they have possessed ordinary, human girls?"_

" _Which idiot has posed that as a possibility?"_

" _Well there's evidence…"_

" _Considering the recent transformation of the Moon and the planet Venus, which are local to us, I am going to hazard a guess that it is a bit more complicated than that."_

" _But it is a possibility."_

" _I am not endorsing it."_

" _Well it_ is _a theory endorsed by the parents of two of the Sailor Senshi: Mr. and Mrs. Aino and Senator Hino all agree that their daughters are markedly different after years of transforming into their senshi counterparts. Senator Hino touched on that last night when he stood at this very site in order to introduce a new initiative, which addresses what he calls a long-neglected issue of public safety…"_

" _The Senshi Accountability Initiative…_ "Ikuko and Kenji Tsukino watched the news as it transitioned to discussing Senator Hino's bizarre and reactionary step: footage rolled of his speech to a surprisingly large crowd in the heart of Juuban – in the same place where so many civilians had been personally saved by the Senshi days ago.

More specifically, the Tsukinos were focused on their daughter, who'd noticed Luna watching the news report on her way down the stairs for work and had promptly forgotten her morning shift.

Usagi was sitting on the sofa now, with Luna on her shoulder, perhaps speaking to her even as news castors, commentators, and politicians weighed in on the battle, the recovery, and Senator Hino's reaction. Usagi had her hands laced together in front of her mouth, and Ikuko's heart twinged as she watched her move one hand up to wipe her eyes.

" _In related news: we have updates on the five crystalline structures around Azu-Juuban that the senshi erected during their battle,"_ the news castor said _. "They were used to create the shield that ended it. But – as the Senshi Accountability Initiative has stated on its website – their very creation is cause for concern. They appear to have been grown right out of the ground, out of the cement floors of buildings even. And while their shield may keep danger out, there is concern that such a shield could also physically isolate Azu-Juuban from the rest of Tokyo, the world even. Hino himself speculates that they may be using this enemy's appearance to justify laying the groundwork for much larger crystal infrastructure."_

And then Senator Hino himself appeared on the screen, with another clip from last night's speech.

"I didn't vote for him," Kenji Tsukino muttered to his wife.

" _What's to stop Sailor Moon, for instance,"_ Mr. Hino was saying, _"from declaring Tokyo its own protectorate if even our defence forces cannot penetrate the shield? I maintain that if we don't reign the Senshi in now – whether they are simply girls with magic or beings from beyond our world matters not – if we do not reign them in, we may see an end to our fragile democratic structures. We have seen the rise of totalitarian rule here and throughout the world before. I tell you we must stand up now – while there is still time. We cannot allow their enemies or their magic to dictate our lives. We must stand up for our laws, our city, our rights."_

" _Our rights!"_ someone in the crowd echoed back.

It started a chant.

" _Our city! Our rights!"_

" _Our city! Our rights!"_

"Morning!" Chibiusa announced as she bounded down the stairs. Before Ikuko had blinked, Usagi'd snatched the remote off the coffee table and turned the TV to the _Food Network._

"Usagi!" Chibiusa gasped as she came into the living room. "Don't you have work?"

Usagi looked down at her communicator and checked the time. "I – uh," she bowed her head, shaking it. "Of course I do, Chibiusa. I must have gotten distracted." She laughed too loudly. "Oh – I'm gonna have to apologize to Mako-chan again." She stood and smiled at Chibiusa.

It was a startlingly good smile, in Ikuko's opinion. _How many times have you put on a brave face like this for me, and I've never known the difference_?

Usagi hugged Chibiusa and ruffled her hair. "Thanks for reminding me," She told her. "I'm gonna go – or else Mako-chan might decide the bakery needs to give out detentions too."

Chibiusa giggled and hugged Usagi. "Have a good day."

"I will – and don't you be late to school," Usagi nagged (forgetting that Juuban's classes had been cancelled for building repairs, and that Chibiusa had never been anything less than ten minutes early in her life).

And she picked up her purse from where she'd dropped it on the floor upon seeing the TV, and strode out of the living room, Luna following. As she passed into the kitchen, Ikuko moved to hug her, and then Kenji as well.

"Don't you dare let all that go to your head," Ikuko told her.

"I'm not," Usagi promised, ducking out of the hug. "I do have to go though." She looked over her shoulder at them as she walked quickly to the front door and threw it open. "See you later," she called. The door slammed shut, Luna just managing to slip through it after Usagi.

Ikuko shook her head and looked over at Chibiusa. She'd picked up the remote and turned the TV to the news channel Usagi had just tried to keep her from seeing.

"Should she be watching that?" Kenji worried as Chibiusa sat down on the floor and drew her knees up to her chest.

Ikuko sighed. "She'd just learn about it at school anyways." She shook her head as another clip of Senator Hino's speech began playing. "What is wrong with people?"

~ _AgeofAquarius~_

Usagi Tsukino felt eyes on her the entirety of her commute to Makoto's bakery, even more of them that the first days after her identity had been revealed. She kept her eyes on her blue shoes, the toes of which were dirty from how often she scuffed them against each other. She kept her eyes on her feet the entirety of the bus ride, which was a half hour longer today as it was detouring around several damaged streets. All the while, she twisted her engagement ring on her finger too. It was all in an effort to distract herself and to keep her head down, rather than draw attention to the crescent mark that had been prominently displayed on her forehead ever since she'd gotten her memories back during her visit to the moon.

She thought back to that day, when the green eyes had appeared on the Crystal Obelisk and some ancient voice – perhaps the Moon's for it had certainly not been her mother's – had spoken to her, as the crown of Neo Queen Serenity had appeared in her hands.

" _Let this be your coronation…"_

Luna sat silently on her shoulder until they'd gotten off the bus, and once they were alone on the sidewalk, she spoke up. "I agree with your mother," Luna told Usagi, who was still looking at her shoes. "All that stuff that they're spouting is reactionary nonsense."

Usagi sighed. "I understand why everyone's scared though," she said. "No other enemy's ever been so noticeable…"

"That they remember," Luna muttered.

"And I want to tell them it's not some ploy to take over the city." Usagi made a face. "Not that planning to be Queen of Earth is going to go over very well instead."

"And that's still a few years out," Luna reminded her. "Plenty of time for all this panic to blow over." She settled herself more comfortably on Usagi's shoulder. "The news and the politicians don't know what they're talking about."

Usagi nodded, though Luna could see no other sign that she agreed.

The bus had let them off at the bottom of a hill. Normally, upon reaching the top, Usagi would sprint the rest of the way to the bakery, by that point sure Makoto would be very upset if she was late.

Today though, already running an hour behind, Usagi paused at the top and turned back towards Juuban. Luna stared with her: at the ruins of the many skyscrapers, which had been whole at sunset thursday. Their broken glass and steel shells glared back at them under the bright morning sun. A haze still lingered across the whole neighbourhood from the last fires, which had been put out early yesterday.

Hikawa shrine was visible from here too – the trees that surrounded it had been thinned considerably in the battle. Through one of the wider gaps, the crystal point was clearly visible: shining the same, vivid pink as the blooming cherry blossoms.

"What did your people think of Mau?"

"Hmm?" Luna asked, sitting up so she could look at Usagi's face.

"Your sailor."

She wore a pensive face. One Luna was seeing more and more now that her concerns were more complex than her ability to pass her exams. In it she was proud to see the beginnings of a Queen, even as she was startled to see less and less of the girl Usagi'd once been.

"You said she was one of your heroes," Usagi prompted.

"She was – the greatest of them," Luna said.

"But some people must not have liked her… after all, Tin Nyanko killed her."

" _She_ was possessed by Chaos," Luna defended, her hackles up.

"But how did Chaos reach her?" Usagi persisted. "Unless she disliked Sailor Mau before."

" _No!"_ Luna protested. "Everyone liked Mau. The oracles, the professors, the maintenance workers – goodness even the Cat Nip Syndicate thought well of her." She settled herself back on Usagi's shoulder with a huff. "Enough of this – you're late for work."

Usagi hummed and turned away from Juuban, and as they recommenced their walk, a memory came to Luna: of the last communication she'd had with her Grand-Sire before the Moon Kingdom's fall.

 _Is it really true you have eight now? Ha! Well maybe there is something to Coone's theory then. They're all wondering it you know: why're we the only world around Ceti with a Senshi? And where's our crystal? I should think Mau wouldn't have needed your Moon Queen's help so often if she had one. I can't help thinking Coone has a point cause Sailor Mau never has an answer."_

Luna heard something clack against the ground and looked down, watching Usagi kick a large pebble down the sidewalk. She sighed. "I suppose Tin Nyanko might have harboured negative feelings for Mau – but she is an outlier, Usagi." She looked up towards her. "And our people might very well be being affected by the sunspots still hiding in the Earth – you know that."

Usagi looked down at her, frowning. "I do… but everyone we've ever met who was turned dark, there was always some negative feeling that had consumed them before."

"I think you are severely underestimating how much the sunspots influence is affecting their reactions," Luna muttered.

"I'm not," Usagi insisted. "Darkness only gets to people if it has a way in…" She kicked the pebble again. "Are we doing that?" she asked. "Are we creating our own enemies?"

" _She was actually defeated yesterday you know. And she came back – that's got to be her twelfth life now – when you and I only have nine. How's Sailor Mau get that many, Luna?"_

She hadn't had an answer for him then… for any of his questions. As much as Mau had been a hero, Luna recalled, they had known very little about her, even less than they had known about Sol's senshi…

"Mau was a young world when Artemis and I elected to serve," Luna confided as they walked. "Perhaps the people there changed as the millennium passed." She rubbed her face against Usagi's. "But Sailor Mau _was_ a hero. I saw that with my own eyes many times… Just as I see it in you everyday."

Usagi smiled, reaching up and scratching Luna behind the ears.

"Don't doubt your cause," Luna told her.

"I'm not," Usagi said, turning down the street the bakery was on. "But people are afraid… and they've every right to be." She looked down at Luna again. "How can I lead them if they don't trust me?"

"I don't know how," Luna said. "But –" She trailed off as Usagi stiffened. There was a sound at the end of the street – a camera flash.

Usagi reacted faster than she did, diving into the doorway of the closest building. The door was locked, but it provided some cover as she pressed them both against the wood. Usagi and Luna both peeked down the street towards the bakery. It was surrounded by reporters. And…

"Is that a police officer?" Usagi wondered. "Hang on." She rummaged around in her purse and whipped out the disguise pen Michiru had returned to her yesterday. In seconds, she was striding down the street in a policewoman's uniform, Luna leapt off her shoulder when the cameras turned towards them.

"Officer!" one reporter said, shoving a camera and microphone in her face. "Is this going to be handled as a criminal act?"

"Er…" Usagi's eyes flicked to the bakery, whose curtains were shut tight, though the sign on the door said _open_ in flowery calligraphy. "I don't think I can say without more evidence." She shook her head and batted the camera away. "Now: let me through." She barged past the reporters and towards the policeman pacing in front of the shop door. "I'm here to speak with him," she said and everyone including Luna stood and watched her approach the police officer, who was grumbling and rubbing his right hand.

"Good morning!" Usagi said to him. "Are you hurt?"

"Damn right I'm hurt," he cursed. The hair on his head and arms was standing on end. "Door's booby-trapped." He frowned at her. "You forget your bike?"

"Um…" Usagi laughed. "Funny story – it ah… well it's in for repairs."

He gave a long suffered sigh. "I hear yah – couple of ours are straight up buried. Got cars with holes through the damn engines. And these senshi are calling their battle a victory." He nodded towards the bakery. "One who runs this shop certainly getting a little defensive about it. Got a report this morning she had an altercation with a customer. Came to ask some questions, and the damn door electrocuted me."

Usagi frowned. "Well – it's not my department… but I can't let you keep going without getting your hand looked at… You never know what's in that lightning."

He looked at his hand with renewed alarm. "It is feeling numb." He flexed his fingers experimentally. "I'm meant to do an interview."

"I'll do it," Usagi said.

He clapped her on the shoulder. "You be careful of the door." He checked his injured hand again. "My Precinct's the 22nd. Fax the report… oh damn our fax machine's fried." He grumbled. "Just have someone run it over later."

"I will – you'd better make sure you don't have nerve damage."

"Damn right," he said, "Good luck." And he turned away, shouldering his way past the small crowd of reporters and over to his car.

She waited until he had driven off and then approached the bakery door – the open sign still prominent in the window. She could see the sparks laced across the door handle.

"If you use the communicator, the camera-men will see," Luna said.

"I know that," Usagi hissed and her hand hesitated over the brass door handle. "This better not ruin my hair, Mako-chan," she muttered and then grasped hold of it.

Luna yelped as sparks raced up Usagi's arm and through her claws and Usagi gritted her teeth. The door wasn't locked, but it felt _way_ worse than the time she'd stuck her finger in the outlet when she was five. She turned the handle all the way around as quickly as she could and threw her shoulder against the door.

It swung open, and she stumbled into the bakery. Luna yowled and Usagi ducked as a hand rushed past her, slamming the door shut before the reporters could get in. She shrank back against the doorframe as something was thrust into her face.

A steaming hot pie.

"I swear I didn't punch him!" Makoto said hastily, her head bowed as she held the fresh pie out to Usagi. "Here! Just take this. Don't arrest me!"

"How hard did you hit him?" Usagi asked.

"Not that hard!" Makoto said and then her face paled to the same shade as the flour smattered across her pink shirt and black apron. "I-I mean." She sighed and her shoulders slumped. "D-don't you like pie?"

"I mean I do…" Usagi said. "But Mako-chan…"

Makoto looked up, eyebrows raised at the use of her informal name. "Uh?"

"It's me." Usagi laughed, pulling the pink disguise pen out of her uniform pocket.

Makoto turned red. "I – I knew that." She looked at the pie, and then at Usagi, and frowned. "Hang on – you're an hour late. This is your fault!"

"My fault!"

"Yeah – if you'd been here you'd have punched him, and _I_ would have tried to stop you, and _I_ wouldn't be in trouble."

"Well…" Usagi cleared her throat. "You're only in trouble if someone files a report… and I don't know how to do that." She paused. "Buuuut…. You might be in trouble for electrifying the door."

"I didn't…" Makoto blustered, and then looked at the door handle. It was still sparking. "Oh…" she ran her hand through her hair, creating sparks as she did. "I might have… panicked a little."

"That's understandable," Luna said, hopping off Usagi's shoulder and checking her fur. The electricity had made all of it stand on end. She set about grooming it flat again. "What happened?"

Makoto sighed, walking over to the counter and setting the pie down. She leaned back against it. "Well the day started normal. They finished up fixing the windows and I made breakfast for all the guys who put the new ones in… I sent Nephrite out to get more stuff since… it's been kinda hard to go out and do _anything_ myselfsince the battle." She frowned. "Oh crap and he's got to find a way past all the cameras out there now."

"When did you punch someone?" Usagi asked.

"Like… I dunno. Ten minutes ago. This guy came in and started accusing me of being an alien trying to take over his city. I told him he was a nut job, and _he_ said we all ought to be held responsible for our actions – funny our actions were to save his stupid ass. And I told him he should talk to the news if he wanted to spew nonsense and see how much they cared. Cause _I_ didn't do anything wrong."

"Why did you punch him?"

"I _didn't_!" She slapped a hand over her face. "I was pushing him out the door and I went to shove him. Cause he wasn't budging. _He_ was the one who turned around and tried to come back in and walked into my hand." She looked at her palm. "I might have broken his nose." She looked out towards the windows. "He left… then a couple minutes ago the police car shows up _and_ the cameras. I swear their pals or something."

"It's more likely that the reporters have police scanners." Luna said, hopping up onto the counter and addressing Makoto. "In any case, if that's what happened you don't have anything to worry about."

"I don't?"

"No," Luna said, glancing up towards the corner of the shop. "The security camera we installed should suffice."

"I have cameras?" Makoto exclaimed, glancing all around. Usagi did as well, though she couldn't see any.

Luna was smirking. "You didn't think Artemis and I were going to let you invest in a shop without proper security." Her crescent mark glowed. In the two front corners of the shop, squares of the wallpaper faded, revealing sleek black cameras hidden underneath. "We'll forward the video to police. And pay the man's medical bills if we have to, but I don't think you'll have to bribe your way out of a court appearance over this one."

"Where do you have the money to pay bills like that?" Usagi asked, raising her eyebrows at Luna.

Luna shrugged one shoulder. "Artemis and I have made a few smart investments over the years."

"Well that's nice," Makoto crossed her arms, staring towards the windows. The shadows of the reporters still milling about outside were visible through the floral print curtains. "They seem more excited than usual today." She said. "Not like the guy who came in but… I've gotten a lot of other strange looks."

Luna and Usagi looked at each other. "Makoto… have you seen the news yet?"

"No," she frowned. "Left too early today… and Rei refused to watch it last night. I think her dad had a speech." She looked down at Luna. "Why?"

Luna sighed. "It seems the high noticeability of our new enemy has garnered some back lash for us."

 _Some_ , Usagi thought, glancing down at her phone, three days and still no cell signal. It was 7:45 now. It was still dinnertime yesterday in Boston, Massachusetts. _I wonder what Mamo-chan's heard about all this_?

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

" _I'm sorry, your call cannot be connected at this time,"_ the computerized voice said. Mamoru sighed and tossed his cell phone on the couch. This was the eighth time in three days he had tried to call Usagi, but it seemed cellular service was still down for much of Tokyo. He directed his attention back to the news, where the "disaster," that had struck Tokyo was still a prominent story. On the U.S. channels it had evolved from news of a terrorist attack, to an earthquake and now, as footage from Japan finally made its way to U.S. media, a senshi battle. The news here, though, was far more preoccupied with what a senshi was (and even whether this confirmed the existence of aliens) to be bothered much with the local reaction to the battle. All he could garner was that it had caused political tension. He frowned when he saw Senator Hino's picture in the corner.

" _Tune in to World News at 11 for the actions Japan's government is proposing in the wake of the disaster…_ " the newscaster said, and Mamoru sat back on the couch as it went to commercial for the seventh time in an hour. He coughed and scowled as he fished his handkerchief from his pocket. He'd been feeling worse the past few days. 

The commercials were still advertising trivial and useless things when the front door of his apartment opened. Jadeite strode in, balancing two closed cardboard boxes and one open one in his hand. His other still held half a pizza slice from the top box.

"Pizza!" he hollered through a mouth full of food.

"Give me those!" Kunzite said, storming, shirtless, out of he and Zoicite's room and snatching all three boxes. He rolled his eyes. "Would you get some self-control?"

"I did," Jadeite said. "This time I only ate half of one." He belched.

Kunzite wrinkled his nose. "You had better manners as Metalia's –"

"Shh!" Mamoru said, reaching for the remote and turning up the volume on the TV. The news was back and it had turned its attention to the Japanese public at last.

" _These senshi seem to be a feature of daily life in Tokyo,"_ the foreign correspondent was saying. " _Though opinions of them are decidedly more negative than some say they've been in the past. I spoke to one mother here, who says just last week there was an attack on her son's school because these enemies were looking for members of the senshi. She said it's outrageous that they would endanger children by disguising themselves as students… though she does acknowledge that attacks of this scale have been much rarer in the past… but hers seems to be the prevailing opinion from a lot of people you talk to here. That these… superheroes, if you want to call them that, are putting the public in danger, especially as it seems whatever attacked Tokyo two days ago came here for them and them alone."_

"Was the reaction like this when Galaxia was hunting them?" Zoicite asked, already dressed in his blue night-dress and slippers. He leaned in the doorway of he and Kunzite's room.

"I don't think so," Mamoru said. "Usagi's never said anything." He frowned.

" _In local news – chaos erupted at the statehouse today when protesters and police clashed. There are reports of pepper spray being deployed on the crowd. Eleven have been arrested, and while the protest's organizers maintain it was a peaceful event, eye-witnesses also claim to have seen one man arguing with a police officer before throwing a punch. We do not know at this time whether this was the start of the violence or a reaction to the pepper spray."_

"Emotions are running high here too…" Mamoru worried. "I wonder if the sunspots in the Earth are –" but his thought was cut off when he coughed again, hacking with his handkerchief pressed to his mouth as all three of his knights stood stiffly nearby.

"You're getting worse," Kunzite observed.

"It's fine," Mamoru said, quickly stowing his handkerchief in his pocket. "I've had worse." He pressed his hand into his lavender shirt and rubbed his chest. "It's nothing we should worry about… we already know the cause."

"The sunspots," Jadeite muttered, tossing his pizza crust towards the trash and beginning to pace between the front door and their small kitchenette.

"If they're affecting the people…" Zoicite mused, his eyes towards the floor. "And you." He looked up at Kunzite and then Mamoru. "I thought Luna and Artemis said we'd see some respite for a while."

"We were supposed to," Mamoru said.

"But if their forces have been heavily damaged," Kunzite considered, setting the pizza boxes on the coffee table and sitting down on the side of the armchair across from Mamoru "Whatever generates those sunspots will want to produce more as fast as they can… and get them to us as fast as possible."

"Then why not increase their production on Mars or Mercury," Mamoru wondered. "When we'll notice them here more quickly."

"It knows the senshi can defeat them as well…" Zoicite said. "Perhaps it wants to do as much damage to Earth as it can."

"But…" Mamoru coughed again, whipping out his handkerchief. All three of his knights flinched. He stowed it away quickly once more.

"But why?" Jadeite muttered, still pacing.

Zoicite shook his head as he walked into the living room, and sat in the seat of Kunzite's armchair. He looked up at him.

The white haired knight ran a hand through his hair. "I think," he said. "There's only one person who might know."

Mamoru nodded and leaned forward on the couch. He held his right hand out over the coffee table and the still steaming pizzas as Jadeite, Zoicite, and Kunzite gathered close.

With a flash, the golden crystal appeared above his palm. He'd gotten better and better at conjuring it since learning of its existence. He furrowed his brows.

Light shown from the slowly spinning crystal up towards the ceiling, and a white and blue robed figure appeared there, on one knee, with his head bowed.

"My King," Helios greeted.

"When will I get you to call me Mamoru, Helios?"

"Perhaps when I retire," Elysion's high priest smiled as he looked upon the King. "I do wish we had more opportunities to speak to each other concerning less pressing matters." He studied Mamoru. "How is your cough?"

"Fine," Mamoru said.

"Getting worse," Kunzite interrupted. "He's downplaying its severity."

"I have had worse." Mamoru shook his head. "But I am concerned that it indicates the sunspots in Earth's core are becoming more active."

Helios frowned. "They are hard for me to observe... I can only feel that the Earth is in pain, as you can, and it has been in more pain the past few days."

"Are they stealing its power, then?"

"That would be something you would know better than I," Helios said. "Have your powers been weakening?"

"No, only my health."

"Hmm..." The priest stared upwards. "I've been considering several theories for how they may be using the Earth. Luna and Artemis tell me they've seen sunspots from the other planets as well."

"All of them display some power similar to the senshi's," Mamoru said.

"Then it is possible..." Helios mused. "Star seeds are created within planets. If, as we've learned, they are pieces of Sailor Crystals... they may need the planets unique environment to help them strengthen or maintain their powers when they are... split." All of them grimaced.

"Then they have their own power," Jadeite said. "Do they simply mimic the planets abilities...?"

"That is what I am praying is true," Helios told them. "As it means the senshi and you, my King, will be unaffected."

"But they do damage the planets," Mamoru said. "Hence why I am sick."

Helios nodded. "I believe exposure to the amount of darkness I can feel from these sunspots could certainly weaken a planet over time, especially if whatever controls that darkness was actively trying to damage its host world."

"Is that why Mamoru's getting worse then?" Kunzite asked. "Our enemy's decided using Earth simply to generate its sunspots is not a good enough use."

"Or perhaps we are seeing the effect on Earth earlier than in the other planets," Helios said. "Or the effect may simply be easier to detect after all, Endymion," he nodded to Mamoru. "Has a connection to his planet that none of the other senshi can claim."

"Other?" Mamoru said, looking around to see if the knights had heard the same. "Helios... I'm not a senshi."

"Forgive me, My King," Helios said, bowing his head. "You are the closest equivalent the Earth has." He looked up at them. " I expect you'll begin to see some signs of the dark activity in the core appearing on the surface."

"We need to see them more clearly," Kunzite decided.

"Mercury's detection program depends on the satellites. It can't reach all the way to the core..." Zoicite mused. He looked at Jadeite. "How's your own gadget coming along?"

Jadeite scowled. "No one knows how to make Mage-minerals or metals anymore. So having to craft them all myself is taking longer than expected." He snapped his fingers several times as he paced, generating sparks. "I might be able to make something small with what I have now."

"We need anything the two of you can craft," Kunzite said. "If the King is sick we haven't any time to waste perfecting things."

"I'd never endanger Endymion!" Jadeite snapped.

Mamoru cleared his throat, his free hand raised palm out. "I am fine," he told his knights. "It's the people I'm worried about." He directed his attention to Helios. "We're starting to see increases in violence here, and the tension between the senshi and the public is building in Tokyo."

"Hmmm…" Helios' frown deepened. He looked skywards for a few moments and sighed. "I am afraid that may be creating a feedback loop," Helios said. He wrung his hands several times. "If the darkness is affecting people's emotions, the people's emotions, in turn, affect the soul of the Earth."

"Which would increase the effect the sunspots darkness has," Zoicite worried. "We need to find someway of ousting them."

Mamoru looked down towards his feet as Jadeite and Kunzite began tossing about ideas.

 _"We think the ones that attack with rose petals and thorns come from the Earth,"_ Usagi had told him weeks ago.

 _But my power doesn't manifest anything like that,_ Mamoru thought. _And it took Moon and Venus obtaining their full senshi abilities to force the sunspots out of their worlds._

 _But Earth doesn't have a senshi... only me._

"My King?" Helios whispered, too low for his knights to hear.

Mamoru looked up at him, into the golden crystal's light. "Can I call on you later tonight?" he asked. "Alone?"

Helios frowned but nodded. "You may call on me whenever you have a need to, My King."

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

"The chores were done extra well today," Rei's grandfather mused as he knelt beside her in the fire room. "The kitchen floor has not shined so well since your lovely friend Makoto first moved in."

She merely nodded, glaring hard at the orange and red fire.

"You have always performed your duties to perfection," he said. "Though today I detect a certain amount of... frustration being taken out on the extra clean surfaces."

"I'm fine," Rei whispered.

"The broken bristles on the broom say otherwise."

Rei closed her eyes. She wished he would leave. She had not been able to concentrate on the fire all day. And Mina had already nagged her twice that she could feel her emotions halfway across Juuban.

" _I'm coming over,"_ she'd insisted several times today, using the communicator since she still had a bit of trouble speaking to Rei psychically of her own accord.

" _I want to be alone!"_ Rei'd told her each time.

Which had earned her only a day of respite. She was sure Mina'd appear tonight whether Rei told her to leave or not. Any other day, she'd have been touched by her concern. Today though she was concentrating too hard on other things.

Her grandfather reached out and put his hand on her arm. "You are upset," he observed. "Because of your father."

The fire turned bright red and shot up towards the ceiling, sending sparks flying.

"I don't care what he's blustering about!" she muttered.

"Do you know, when you are upset, there is fire in your eyes?" he wondered. "And in your heart. It is expressed in every action you take."

She turned towards him, her expression was (at first) a glare and then, as she met his cool and even gaze, it softened. Her shoulders slumped. The large fire burning beside them shrunk until it burned below the level of the stone hearth.

"I don't care if he thinks I'm an alien," she whispered. "Or about whatever his… Accountability Initiative is." She clenched her fists. "I just don't understand why people are _listening_ to him."

Her grandfather covered her tense fists with his warm, wizened hands. "Your father's a charismatic man… and his senses are as sharp as yours in different ways. He has a knack for connecting with people, for getting them to listen to him." He smiled at her. "The tension that has sprung up in the wake of your victory will fade with time."

But Rei shook her head. "I don't think so." She glanced back at the fire. "I can at least feel that much."

"Did this keep you from concentrating today?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It's other things." She bit her lip. "When he took me out to dinner," she confided at last, having kept it between herself and Mina for nearly a month. "He tried to get me to agree that he would be a voice for the senshi in the government."

"And you refused, because that is far too much power to give a man whom we would both rather not have any power over you."

She nodded and looked up at him. "But they he threatened you." She told her Grandfather. "He said… if I didn't do as he asked, he would have you declared mentally unfit… and he'd put into elderly care."

"Lock me up away from all the lovely ladies, you mean?"

"Grandpa!" she exclaimed as he chuckled. "It's not funny!"

"Oh Rei, do be less serious." Her grandfather laughed, and then his expression sobered. He squeezed her hands. "Trust me. You do not need to worry about your father's role in my life. Even if he could convince the community that my sanity had dwindled with age, for him to do anything about it, he would need the ability to claim power of attorney, and I have ensured that is not within his capabilities."

"What do you mean!" she exclaimed. "He's your son; of course he can!"

"As I said." Her grandfather smiled and stood. "I have taken care of it." He rubbed his bald head and looked up to the left, thinking aloud: "though perhaps… given his blustering, it's time I made that fact a little more public."

"What fact?" she blustered.

"Save it for when your Tweeter-thing is up and running for everyone again," her grandfather said, waving a dismissive hand as he turned and walked away. When he reached the doorway to the main house he turned back to her. "Be finished with this in an hour," he said, waving a nagging finger. "Because I am making cookies. And it is your job to eat them."

She was smiling when he shut the door, and shook her head, turning back to the fire. She took a deep breath.

She felt calmer now, at least. She was at last able to center herself, and empty her thoughts.

It had been two days since her last encounter with their enemy, and since she had reached the senshi trapped within one of the sunspots.

She stared into the warm flames in the hearth, and at last began to meditate on the events of two days prior.

 _Sailor Sirius,_ she thought. _What happened to you?_

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

 _ **ANTI-SAILOR FEELINGS ON RISE. GOVERNMENT SPLIT.**_

 _Tuesday, April 29_ _th_

 _Today, when the emergency session of the government convened, Senator Hino's Senshi Accountability Initiative was formally put before the legislature. While the body widely approved of some measures mentioned in the plan: such as putting formal regulations over, as the Initiative states, the Senshi's "rampant vigilante-ism," there were serious splits amongst all represented parties over other parts of the plan. Among the most debated points were: how the plan will be enforced, whether the senshi are endangering Tokyo, and whether the shield they have build around Juuban poses a risk to national security. But the point which surely weighs most prominently on the public's mind was brought up by one of Senator Hino's long-time critic's, Yoshida Tadatsugu, who asked whether it was correct for the Initiative to consider the senshi extra-terrestrials, and whether or not the initiative or subsequent legislation would be a violation of their human rights._

 _We caught up with Yoshida after the session ended. And he had this to say: "We simply do not have enough evidence to call these heroes – as I believe many still consider them – extra-terrestrials, nor do we have evidence to suggest they are knowingly putting the population of this country or this planet at risk. It would be an egregious abuse of power to make that determination without further research. The destruction in Juuban and in other cities in Japan and around the world that has resulted from this new threat is devastating and worrisome, but I refuse to back any measure until the Senator can put real research behind his assertions. Certainly not when, by doing so, we might cripple the best defence this planet has."_

 _Yoshida's opinion, which seems at this point to be held by at least a plurality of the legislature, does not seem to hold with a plurality of the public. Indeed, at the time of this publication, internet and cellular service have been restored for the majority of Juuban and the surrounding districts, and the hashtag #ETevidence has been trending throughout the day, with users sharing links and pictures which they say more than support Senator Hino's claims._

 _The senshi could not be reached for comment._

four days after the battle, full cellular service finally came back online, and Luna pushed back the senshi's meeting by an hour when Usagi was, at last, able to contact Mamoru in America.

Ami, Rei, and Makoto caught her on her way into the arcade, and grinned when they saw the spring in her step and the smile on her face as she twirled down the street, polka-dotted skirt standing out against the grey buildings, while Luna and Chibiusa walked at a more sedate pace behind her.

"You know Harvard has a summer break beginning in a few weeks," Ami observed as Usagi ran into Rei and Makoto and linked arms with them, making all of them laugh. "Perhaps he can get an internship at a hospital here for the season."

Usagi grinned. "You think so!" she shrieked, making Rei and Makoto wince despite the smiles on their faces. "He didn't say anything." She gasped. "Maybe he wants it to be a surprise!"

"Or maybe he was trying to spare us you talking non-stop about it all month," Rei teased as Luna and Chibiusa walked up to the arcade doors. They slid open.

"Do you think Hotaru will be here?" Chibiusa asked Luna for the third time since leaving home.

"I wasn't able to contact her," Luna said. "I believe her communicator is still missing."

"Can't you get her a new one?" Chibiusa whined.

"Why don't you just text her."

"I _did_ ," she pouted. "But Mugen has school today, and I think one of the teachers took her phone."

"Shouldn't you have school today?" Ami asked.

"Not until they fix the roof," Chibiusa said. "A sunspot sorta –" she was interrupted by the sound of something clattering against the floor. All five senshi and Luna stiffened and whipped around towards the sound.

"Um." Motoki had just come down the stairs from the Crown café. The shake he'd been drinking had slipped from his hand, and was currently pooling into a strawberry-pink puddle near the arcade counter.

"Hi Motoki!" Usagi beamed. "Guess what! Mamo-chan might be able to come back for the summer."

"Uhh." Motoki shook his head. "That's great."

"What's wrong?" Chibiusa blurted out.

"Nothing!" Motoki squeaked. "Sorry I just…" he rubbed the back of his neck. "I um, are you really aliens?" he asked. "Sorry… that sounds rude. I just… everyone's saying it…"

All the senshi looked at each other. Usagi's grin fell from her face.

"Haven't been asked that since I got kicked out of my second middle school for flipping two punks over my head," Makoto said coolly. "Never thought I'd hear it from you."

Motoki looked down at his shoes. "I didn't mean…" he shook his head and looked up at them. "It's just… they say the new enemy's got powers like yours… and you made a dome over the whole district!" he exclaimed. "And… Mina has wings." He wrung his hands together. "I'm sorry – There was a giant water cyclone outside my apartment four days ago and you," he gestured to Ami. "Froze it in its tracks. _It's still frozen there_." He gulped. "I'm sorry… I just… I like all of you. I'm just confused. Everyone's confused."

Chibiusa stepped forwards about to speak, but Luna leapt from her shoulder, standing in front of her and shaking her head. It wouldn't do for her to let anyone, even Motoki, think she might be a senshi too.

Luna looked at the older senshi then: Rei staring towards the windows and Makoto, her arms crossed, frowning at Motoki, and Ami, holding onto Usagi's arm while the blond stared at her shoes. Her eyes looked glassy.

Luna turned back to Motoki, who hadn't paid much attention to her. She cleared her throat, startling him. "There's only one alien here," she said, staring sternly at him. "They're as human as you are." And she turned around, butting her head against Chibiusa's ankles until the girl moved. The cat led all of them towards the Sailor V game, which slid aside as Luna approached. Luna perched on top of it as the five senshi walked down into the command center. Once they'd gone, she turned to look at Motoki.

He stared at her wide-eyed for a few moments. Then he straightened up, nodded his head, and set about getting back to work.

Satisfied, Luna bounded down the stairs into the command center, the Sailor V game slid back into place as she descended.

Nearly all of them were there when Luna reached the bottom of the stairs: Rei'd gone straight to Mina, whose still-startling yellow wings were poised and tense, just like her arms, which were braced on the console with the blue sleeves of her shirt rolled to the elbows. Mina was watching the center-most screen on the computer. Data streamed across it as Artemis tapped his paws across one of the keyboards; accessing all the information they needed today. Ami stood across the console from them, still in the dress shirt and grey suit she'd worn to her morning lecture. She had her glasses on as she tapped in data of her own.

Makoto and Chibiusa both leaned against opposite columns close to the door. Makoto had her arms crossed and so did Chibiusa, trying to mimic her stance.

And Usagi'd gone to the couch where Michiru and Haruka, in matching black and white clothes, were sitting. She was sitting as close to Michiru as she could, squinting into the Aqua mirror. All three of them were smiling. Luna shook her head. _At least we've had some happy news this week._ Besides Mamoru, Michiru's news was the only topic that had been able to brighten Usagi's mood since Friday's battle – news that Luna had made Usagi repeat four times before she'd believed it herself.

" _Oh come on, Luna!"_ Usagi'd whined when she'd broken the news. _"She's pregnant! That's amazing. Be excited!"_

 _I am excited,_ Luna thought as she leapt up onto the console of the Lunar computer, setting about getting the last two monitors running. _It's as wonderful as it is surprising._ She berated herself once more for permitting them all to travel to their home-worlds two months ago without giving them a thorough understanding of the things the planets magical points were capable of. _Though really,_ Luna mused. _It didn't occur to me any of you would manage to do such... consequential magic by accident._

"Hotaru! Pu!" Chibiusa gasped. Luna turned around. Pluto and Hotaru had just stepped out of the Time Doors. Luna smiled as Chibiusa hugged Hotaru and then Setsuna once she'd de-transformed. She stayed clinging to Setsuna's arm on one side and Hotaru's on the other.

"Alright," Artemis announced. "No one had any trouble making it here?"

"Define trouble," Michiru muttered.

"Anyone need to talk about what's going on in the news?" Mina asked, looking at all of them.

"Later," Makoto nodded. "What have we got?"

Artemis nodded, turning back to the keyboard and hitting one of the keys with his paw.

The data on the center-most screen faded away, an orange crystal appearing in its place.

"This is a model of the sailor crystal Mars and Venus were able to make contact with at the end of the battle." Artemis said. "As we know, all of the crystals whose pieces were all together at the end of the battle were able to re-form, and Venus saw their original forms.

"Before that snake thing sucked them all out of existence," Mina said. She leaned into Rei as her girlfriend put her arm around Mina's waist.

"Correct," Artemis continued. "We don't, unfortunately have clear footage of what happened then."

"But we do have some cell-phone videos, and pictures," Ami continued. "Using those, I was able to create a model of what happened, and generate a theory for what caused all the crystals to vanish."

Artemis hit the keyboard and zooming in on the model of Sirius' crystal as, on the screens to the left, Ami pulled up three zoomed in videos that appeared from their quality to have come from cell phone cameras.

"Do you guys have your own satellite or something?" Haruka wondered. "Cell service was down for three days. How did you track down _and_ hack all of these?"

"Most of the service outages occurred after the end of the battle when a few of the fires damaged the cell towers," Ami said. "So while yes… I did use our satellite to access the internet, it wasn't hard to track these down."

"What do you mean?" Usagi asked. "Did you google it?"

Ami flushed and nodded. "#senshibattle was trending just after midnight that night."

Mina snorted. "Alright then." She left Rei and walked along the console to be closer to the left-most screens. "What's Twitter have for us then."

"Watch closely." Ami said, hitting one of the keys.

The videos and the simulation began playing at a slow pace.

"I selected Sirius' crystal because theirs reformed first," Ami said. "By a few seconds actually."

"I didn't notice," Mina murmured. Though she could see in the videos themselves the figures who appeared around the other sailor crystals only began to emerge once the light from Sirius' had developed a humanoid shape. "Sirius was the one you spoke to," Mina said, looking back towards Rei who still leaned against the right side of the console. "Could that… mean something?"

Rei frowned. "Maybe… I met them before they became a sunspot," she said. "While I was… meditating." She noticed Usagi's frown and looked away, up at the screens. She had not yet told the Queen exactly how far she had explored her connection to their new enemy. And given how it had attacked her via that very connection during battle, she was sure Usagi would be less than approving of the effort.

 _I'll tell her when I learn something useful_ , Rei decided. _After all if it were her, it's not like she wouldn't try to do the same thing._

"Anyways… I learned their name while I meditated, and then in battle, that was how I stopped their sunspot," She recalled and thought for a moment. "Maybe because of that, Sirius was already trying to reform… and they did so quicker."

"Or maybe they can speak to the others who are trapped," Chibiusa suggested. "Maybe they told them how to reform." She looked up at Setsuna. "That could be true right… and… and that way they wouldn't be all alone."

Setsuna smiled fondly at her and stroked her hair. "Perhaps that is true." She directed her attention back to Luna, Ami, and Artemis. "Were you able to determine how they were removed from our dimension?"

"Is that what happened?" Mina murmured.

"As a matter of fact yes," Artemis said, turning towards Luna. "We almost didn't catch it but,"

"But Luna noticed something in the frame-by frame that I didn't," Ami said, a slight blush on her face. She'd searched for two whole days and not noticed.

"Now be fair," Luna chuckled. "Considering quality of most of this footage it was a lucky thing. But," she tapped her paw on one key and the simulation started to shift, the background of the monitor turned from black to light blue. "Thank goodness the shield was still up, or we wouldn't have caught it at all against the night sky.

They didn't notice it on any of the videos, but on the simulation it was made quite clear. Haruka, Michiru, and Usagi all got to their feet and Makoto pushed away from the stone column as a dot of black appeared just _behind_ the sailor crystal.

"We noticed one frame in one bit of footage where Sirius' crystal appeared to have a shadow _behind_ it before the darkness appeared in the crystal's core." Luna said. "And from that we determined that the darkness breached our dimension, but not via the crystals…" they shivered as the shadow on the screen expanded and stretched out, merging with Sirius' crystal and dousing the glowing orange power in the center. On the videos Mina watched, the silhouette of the sailor flickered, and those of the others did too just a second later.

"So we really did remove all the negative energy from their crystals." Mina realized.

"And that thing reached through and took them back," Rei continued, fists clenched.

"If all it had to do to take them back was touch them," Haruka said. "Why didn't it attempt to take Venus and Usagi as well – look they're barely three feet away."

"I'm fairly confident it can't see us clearly from where it is," Setsuna pointed out. "It may not have known they were so close by… And it also certainly takes a lot of energy to tear through a dimension like it seems to be." She nodded at the screen. "I suspect it only returned for its sunspots because they are its main fighting force."

"And why's it use them to fight anyway?" Makoto demanded, fists shaking. "Why not face us head-on?"

"The sun hurts it," Rei said, and stiffened as soon as she'd spoken. Every eye in the room focused intently on her. She cleared her throat. "Ah… when it first captured me… when it attacked my mind. I got a look at it's own." She rubbed her temples, trying to recall how she had _known_ this. "When Venus gained Aphrodite's powers and attacked it – it was hurt because her power was like starlight…and then the direct sunlight burnt it too."

"That's why it used the asteroid as a shield," Haruka said.

"And yet it somehow captured all of these Sailors," Michiru murmured. "And, as we can all gather from our visions, hurt their star systems as well. How?"  
"Whatever the explanation is," Setsuna said, "I think there's something we can't overlook here." She nodded to Mercury and the two cats. "If it reached through the dimension and took those sailor crystals, another reason it could take them, and not Venus or Usagi, who were close by, could be that it is connected to the sailors it has captured."

"No!" Usagi gasped, her hands coming up over her mouth.

For a moment the only sound in the room was the echo of her exclamation, then the slap of Venus tennis shoes across the tile floor as she walked quickly back to Rei's side.

Rei was not looking at any of them, maintaining a defensive pose as she focused on the computer monitors. She still remained stock still even after Mina reached her and wrapped her arm tightly around her waist.

They waited, Usagi even took a few steps towards Rei, but stopped in the middle of the room when the priestess spoke at last.

"I don't think my connection to it is of the same strength," Rei said. "After all, I didn't turn into a sunspot when it reached out to me mid-battle." She turned and gave Usagi a reassuring smile. "And you could bring me back."

"Which is also important," Setsuna said, all eyes in the room turning to her once again. She was still thinking it seemed, her head tilted slightly as she stared towards the super computer. _She's probably looking at something else_ , Chibiusa thought, for her gaze seemed to stare far into the distance, the same way she'd so often seen her stare towards another time or place. Chibiusa tugged on the lavender sleeve of her blazer. "Pu..."

"I am thinking," Setsuna said, looking down at Chibiusa, "That if we could somehow break the connection between those Sailor crystals and our enemy… as Sailor Moon did briefly when she rescued Rei…" She looked around the room. "Then we could hold on to the crystal shards of those sunspots we defeat. If we could find a way to keep them without the enemy reclaiming them, that is…"

Then they could deprive their enemy of its army, the realization dawned on all of them at once.

"Then we need to work out how," Haruka decided. "Before it makes more sunspots to send our way." She nodded to Ami. "Any idea how long that will be."

"Unfortunately no," Ami frowned, pushing her glasses up her nose as she leaned over the computer and typed something in. "But we can confirm that the number of sunspots in the Earth's core increased after our battle." The numbers on the monitor resembled only gibberish to most of those gathered, though Ami highlighted several that seemed to be important. "I had the computer track the number of sunspots who appeared with rose and thorn attacks during the battle and based on that," she turned away from the computer. "The sunspots which may have been generated in the Earth was 53 – twice the number we saw with fire attacks. Further: those sunspots that attacked with rose petals had more power than the others."

Quiet settled over the room again. Several, like Usagi, stared towards the computer. Others, like Setsuna, scanned rapidly across the numbers on the monitors. And some, like Makoto, closed their eyes as they processed Ami's words.

Artemis broke the silence. "Helios also mentioned to us that he's seen the activity from the sunspots in the core increase to higher than it was before your battle."

"Mamoru mentioned," Usagi added and sighed. "He has a cough."

"We won't let anything happen to him," Mina assured her and all of her friends nodded in agreement.

"I wonder," Michiru said, looking up from the Aqua Mirror. "If the sunspots in the Earth are acting up… and it is affecting the Prince, then it may be affecting the people too."

"How do you mean?" Hotaru asked.

"Simply that," Michiru explained, "negative energy might be influencing people's moods or actions… or certain initiatives."

"I wish," Rei muttered. "No this Anti-senshi legislation is just my father."

"And it's proven surprisingly popular," Michiru continued. "I have a feeling the current tension we're all experiencing could be the sunspots affecting the populace."

"So they don't hate us!" Chibiusa exclaimed.

"I _knew_ there was something fishy about all that," Mina said.

"Well we gotta find a way to get them out of the Earth then!" Makoto declared. "Cause I am _not_ having anymore incidents with –"

"I don't know," Usagi whispered, though her voice rang clearly across the room. All of them turned towards Usagi, who was staring at her open palms, head bowed so that her hair nearly brushed the floor. "Should we really be so quick to blame everything people are feeling on the enemy?"

"It would fit," Ami argued. "There really can't be any other reason the news has been trending so… hostile towards us." She crossed her arms. "In fact I did several analyses of that two weeks ago…and I could run another, but I couldn't determine any reason."

"And all the talk's been escalating the past few days," Haruka said. "I'm guessing the sunspots have some kind of role."

"But not all of one," Usagi looked up. "People are still afraid…and confused…" her mouth turned up in a wry smile. "And they're not wrong about the crystal points… we preparing to take over Tokyo."

" _Save_ Tokyo!" Chibiusa interrupted. "It was definitely _save_."

"Even so," Usagi said, crossing her arms. She met the eyes of each of her scouts. "Maybe it isn't that the sunspots are making people more scared and angry… maybe it's their feelings causing the negative energy to get stronger."

"But then how do we fight it!" Chibiusa shot back. "How do we get everyone to believe us?"

They'd been asking themselves the very same question since Senator Hino had announced his initiative. And they all looked down, for none of them yet had an answer.

Nor did they by the time Ami's alarm went off. She had a lecture in an hour.

"Let's sleep on it," Mina decided, fishing the keys to Michiru's Porsche out of her pocket, and mourning the recent destruction of her Ferrari as she did. The Porsche wasn't even a cool color. She twirled the keys. "Anyone need a ride?"

~ _AgeofAquarius~_

It turned out that all four of the other inner senshi found an excuse to accompany Mina in the car, as much to avoid the increasingly awkward encounters with strangers on the public transport as to have a little while for being normal friends.

It was a twenty-minute drive between the arcade and their first stop: the Tokyo University campus, and they enjoyed every moment of it. Mina and Makoto goading the packed car into singing along to the songs the radio – including the one that had been playing repeatedly for three months, and which Rei absolutely despised. They sang it through three choruses before Mina lost the battle she and Rei were having over the radio and the station abruptly changed to classical.

"Of course this would be one of Michiru's saved stations," Mina muttered she glanced balefully over at Rei. "Come on… can't we,"

"Play one song," Rei said. "And then you can change it to something that isn't playing the musical equivalent of finger-painting."

"Hey!" Mina stuck her tongue out. "There's nothing wrong with finger-painting."

"Don't your songs end up on that pop station?" Makoto said, leaning between the front seats so she could watch Mina's face. The blond turned red and wrinkled her nose, and her fingers twitched on the wheel.

The whole car chuckled.

"Rei: three," Rei said, making an invisible tally mark in the air. "Minako: one."

"Minako: two!" Mina contested.

"What are you judging?" Ami asked.

"Just seeing who can leave the other one without a good come-back most often," Rei said. "And I thought of mine within five seconds earlier, I was just interrupted by Gramps." She smirked. "Minako: one."

Mina pouted.

"What's the winner get?" Usagi asked.

"Bragging rights," Rei said, turning around so she could give the three of them in the back a sly look. "Besides, it's more about what the loser has to do," she looked towards the driver's side. "Isn't that right, Mina."

Mina made a choked sound. Makoto glanced into the rear view mirror and grinned. "She's redder than her bow!" She laughed along with Ami when Usagi leaned over the front seat to pester Rei and Mina to _tell_ her already. A back and forth which entailed Rei refusing to say a word and Mina's face turning an increasingly prominent red…

Until: "But I told _you_ about how Mamo-chan –"

"CHANGING THE SUBJECT!" Mina declared, shifting gears rather abruptly as she made a turn. She glanced in the mirror. "Ami!" she decided. "You haven't talked about your boyfriend in weeks. Spill."

"Um," Ami froze, combing back her hair. "I wouldn't call him that," she said. "He's… a classmate whom I've gone on a few dates with, but there's not really anything serious…" She made a face. "Or I suppose… given everything that's been going on that's been far more important, I've just… put off deciding if I want it to be serious."

"Well you never know how long this peace and quiet is gonna last," Mina said. "You should figure it out." She looked over at Rei. "Relationships definitely make the tough days better."

Rei, who had closed her eyes and relaxed back in her seat smirked and cracked one eye open. "Still Minako: one."

"Damnit," Mina muttered concentrating back on the road and on Ami, whose feelings she realized, had just been overwhelmed by a surge of stress.

"I mean, It's not as if I'm letting something great go," she was saying. "I _see_ him in class, and we study together… Daichi's brilliant in many respects, but I'm just too busy to really _notice_ if…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Makoto said, clapping Ami on the shoulder. "Thought you only got this stressed about exams."

"Yes well I'm finding that dating is much worse than exams," Ami confessed. "At least then, you have time already set aside in the day to take them _and_ you have all sorts of books and classes to teach you how to be good at them."

Mina frowned. "Brains, if it's that much work, you don't _need_ to date anyone."

"But I want to," Ami protested. "I want it to be fun." She sighed. "I want to get to know him better, but I spend all of my time on things that we really _do_ need to get done." She looked out the car window. "I'm hoping he could help me with some of the computer work I have to do in that regard. He's already helped me immensely with repairing the Mercury hard-drive."

The four others traded confused glances and Mina watched Ami in her rear-view mirror.

Usagi leaned around Makoto: "You mean that hunk of metal you brought back from Mercury?"

"I thought only the palm top was broken," Rei said.

"That is," Ami confirmed, rubbing her forehead. "And I'm still trying to figure out how to repair that… but it was because of the hard-drive," she said. "When I went to investigate what had survived on it, it infected the palm-top with a virus."

The other four in the car gasped. "How's a millennium old piece of space junk have a virus on it!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Well it's a fairly advanced machine," Ami said, crossing her arms and looking around the car trying to reassure them. "I should have expected my planet would try to protect whatever was on it. After all," she chuckled. "Technically I suppose I _did_ steal it."

"And how's Daichi able to help with that?"

"Well he accidentally wound up with a copy of the hard-drive's data," Ami blushed, recalling how their flash-drives had gotten switched. "Which is entirely my fault, but it turned out to be a good thing: He was able to bypass the computer virus."

Murmurs of appreciation filled the car as the others raised their eyebrows.

"He did something _you_ couldn't do?" Usagi said.

"I would have solved it eventually," Ami insisted. "In _any_ case, I am hoping with that hard-drive I can start looking for records of the last time this enemy appeared, and," she nodded to Usagi "translate those journals you brought back from the Moon."

"You really think those could be useful?" Usagi whispered.

"I think it's worth a shot," Ami said. "If we could get back even a fraction of what The Moon Kingdom must have known about…our enemies, our magic… everything, then we might learn how the senshi stopped this thing the last time."

 _And maybe,_ Ami thought as the others considered her ideas. _If I can access the hard-drive, I'll get closer to accessing my past-life's memories too_.

"Well," Makoto said, nudging Ami with her elbow. "If you and Daichi can do it, we're all gonna owe you big time." She gave Ami an understanding look. "But if you can't figure it out, don't stress about it." She bent forwards and surprised all of them by pulling her hammer out of her large purse. She pumped it high in the air and made Usagi squeak as sparks raced out of it and into the roof of the Porsche. "We can fight this thing without a computer."

"Oi!" Mina said, distracted by the sparks on the ceiling. "Don't melt Michiru's car. I will not survive if I so much as scratch it."

"Do you take that hammer _everywhere_?" Usagi asked Makoto.

"Of course I do!" Makoto defended, putting it in her lap as if it weren't made of pure, heavy, metal. She ran her thumb across the name, _Thorunn Friggasdötter,_ engraved across the middle. "If you had hammer that said _you_ were Thor, you'd take it everywhere too." She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. "Bet if it fit in her bag, Mina'd have that sword with her right now."

But rather than react to the teasing, Mina whole-heartedly agreed. "I would," Mina said, nodding emphatically. "Aphrodite never left it behind anywhere… not having it is like walking around without an arm."

The car was quiet for a few moments as they turned down Ami's street.

"Do you think Daichi's been listening to all the talk about the Accountability Initiative?" Ami asked. "I mean… if Motoki is doubting us,"

"Then Motoki will get over it," Mina said, pulling up next to Ami's building. "And Daichi's known you as Mercury for months now and hasn't jumped ship." She parked the car and turned around in her seat. "So stop inventing more things to worry about – leave some of it for the rest of us."

"We do have to find someway of countering Senator Hino's rhetoric though," Ami said as she slipped out of the back door.

"We will," Mina assured her. She looked at the other occupants of the Porsche. "Right guys?"

All of them nodded. "Even if I have to accompany him to dinner again," Rei said.

"Oh, hey, let's not go that far." Mina said, and leaned out the window to look at Ami. "There – thirty minutes to spare." She gave Ami a knowing look. "You're not going to spend it all bend over a computer."

"Oh no, no, no." Ami shook her head, smiling. "I'm getting lunch."

"Get some ice-cream while you're at it," Mina said. "You're working harder than any of the rest of us. We get worried about you."

"It's just like high school," Ami assured them. "I'm managing."

"Well don't forget to call us!" Usagi said, sticking her head out of the skylight. "Just because we can't do your homework doesn't mean we can't help other ways." She smiled. "Mako and I can bring you cookies!"

"That's okay," Ami chuckled. "I appreciate the thought." She checked her watch. "I have to go."

"Have fun in class," Usagi called, still waving as Mina put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb.

"Bun-head!" Rei snapped. "Buckle up."

"Don't forget to text us!" Makoto said, leaning out the window. "We are missing updates on Daichi."

"Too true," Mina said, waving as the car began to roll forwards. "See you later!"

"Sure!" Ami said, waving until the small, white car had disappeared from the top of the street.

She sighed once it had disappeared and lowered her hand. Her watch said there were now 24 minutes for her to get lunch. And her favorite sandwich shop was all the way across campus.

Ami sighed. _I suppose I'll skip the ice cream then,_ she thought as she hustled up to her apartment to collect her books.

She wasn't looking where she was going as she left her building, obsessively checking her watch. _Perhaps I should settle for whatever pre-made sandwich is on offer today,_ she thought glumly, when a hand on her shoulder startled her.

"Sorry!" Daichi laughed, taking his hand away and running it across his close-cropped hair. "You didn't respond when I called you." He held out a brown bag to her. "Here, I got you this."

Ami took it and looked inside. She gaped as she took a sandwich out. "This is my favorite."

"I figured since you eat it all the time," Daichi teased, falling into step with her as she once again began to move towards their class. "Sorry I couldn't meet up the past few days – I wasn't avoiding you, I was just _desperately_ trying to boost the Internet. The temporary services they've had in place can't even download a research paper."

"Sorry," Ami said, looking down. "We should have paid more attention to the cell towers."

"What really?" Daichi scoffed. "From the looks of things you had more important stuff to do, like fight an alien invasion." He raised both hands in a shrug. "Wish the news consulted intelligent people like us, they'd know that too."

Ami chuckled. "Us as in everyone on campus?" She'd certainly seen more than a few suspicious looks from her peers and professors since the battle.

"Oh no – they can code and memorize with the best of them sure," he said. "But they're nitwits. No I mean you and me," He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Geniuses gotta stick together."

Ami chuckled. "That's true…" She glanced up at him. "Would you have time to give back that flash-drive today?" she asked.

"You mean… this one." Daichi whipped the small, blue gadget out of his pocket. "Completely virus-free by the way."

"You're kidding!" Ami said, reaching out for it with her sandwich-free hand and then jumping for it when Daichi lifted it over his hand. She surprised him with how quickly she was able to snatch it.

"Well, not completely free," Daichi sighed. "But I did my best – neutralized more like – which is better than you were able to do – but you have a lot more on your plate than me!" he rushed to say when she frowned. "Sometimes you need help."

"Well I'm grateful," Ami said, leading them down one of the less crowded campus streets so she would not have to see as many overtly suspicious looks.

When they reached the steps of their building, and Daichi took them two at a time on his longer legs. "And… I do get to keep helping with whatever this is, right?" he asked. "Cause… I couldn't read the languages – but the data that thing crunches… you know what ever's on that flash-drive fixed my coding project in _seconds_. I was fascinated." He laughed. "I'd almost believe you were an alien."

"Well this does come from another planet," Ami said, "But I promise, for all intents and purposes I'm as human as they come."

"Sure about that?" Daichi teased as he held open the lecture hall door for her. "Cause no one's ever beaten me on exams so much; your brain's gotta be off the charts."

Ami shook her head and laughed, tucking the flash-drive into her pocket. _I hope he's right,_ Ami thought. _I wonder if I was smarter in my past life… what if I can't use this to solve anything_. Then she sighed and tried to dismiss the thought. "One worry at a time," she coached herself

"Sorry?" Daichi asked as he opened the door to their auditorium.

"Nothing," she assured him, peering down the crowded aisles. "Come on – there's space in the third row."

 _~AgeofAquarius~_

 _ **Protest Art Found On Crystal Structure**_

 _Wednesday, April 30th_

 _Flowers left around the base of the Crystaline structure the senshi erected on the site of Bob Floy's ice cream parlor were vandalised today, and graffiti left on the crystal in a clear protest against the senshi's most recent conflict. "Support S.A.I." was painted in large letters on the structure, likely in reference to the Sailor Accountability Initiative._

 _The flowers that were disrupted were placed by some Juuban citizens as a way to thank the senshi. And the group who left them says they are already planning to replace them._

" _Sailor Moon kept my house from burning down," one woman, Osaka Mayumi explained. "And I know that family. I see how much press they have to deal with now, so all of us thought we'd just leave them a quiet reminder they're appreciated – we put flowers on the other crystal pillars too."_

 _But some who live close to the Bob Floy ice-cream parlor expressed other views._

" _Sailor Moon also lives in their neighbourhood – of course she'd save her own house," one man who asked not to be named said. "Down here: we had Sailor Uranus tearing up the street one cyclone after the other it was nuts. There's a tree in my roof." Bob-Floy's business itself speaks the destruction left in the senshi's wake: the back wall of the freezer is now completely melted, and were it not for the tile floor it'd be hard to tell where the building stood._

" _I dunno who's graffitied the crystals or what not," the local man said. "But I like it. Let's not pretend we should be throwing flowers at them in thanks. After all, they're the reason this enemy's here at all aren't they?" Asked whether they supported the Sailor Accountability Initiative, the neighbors of Bob Floy all nodded an emphatic yes. And we asked those who left the flowers too._

" _They don't know what they're talking about," Osaka said. "But, oh I'll be honest, if it's only about accountability I don't see anything wrong with it. These senshi are my Naru's age, and she's not the most responsible." Asked what she thought of the senshi bringing enemies to Earth, Osaka appeared startled. "Who's saying that… is that true?"_

 _Osaka is of a minority in Tokyo right now, we went around the city yesterday polling commuters. 14% (like Osaka) had never heard the senshi might be attracting our attackers, while 23% thought the idea was completely or mostly false._

 _But that left 63% of those on Juuban's streets who considered it mostly or completely true that our senshi are the cause of our supernatural troubles._

 _ **Brawl Breaks Out Near Senshi's Home**_

 _Wednesday, April 30_ _th_

 _Police were called to Hikawa Shrine this morning after worshippers from the temple got into an argument with several people waiting at the nearby bus stop. Their argument escalated quickly into an exchange of punches as passersby and then Sailor Mars (in her civilian form) appeared to separate the four individuals involved in the fight._

 _It is unclear at this time who turned the argument to physical violence. The two senshi who reside in Hikawa Shrine, Mars and Jupiter, could not be reached for comment._

Hotaru kicked her heels against the legs of her chair while she waited outside her father's office, scowling as he talked to the boy inside.

"I'm sorry," Kara Aino mumbled again, curled up in the hard-plastic chair next to hers.

"Stop saying that," Hotaru said. "You didn't do anything."

"I know… but I shouldn't have said what I did," Kara sighed. "I think it just egged them on."

"Then why'd you say anything at all?" Hotaru snapped.

Kara was cut off form replying by the office door clicking open. The boy who'd been teasing Hotaru in study hour shuffled out with his hands in his pockets. He glared at them, an effect ruined by his puffy left eye. "Aino," he said. "He want's to see you next."

Kara slipped out of her seat. "I'll set him straight," she assured Hotaru as she ducked past the boy and into the Principal's office.

"Can I see your eye?" Hotaru asked, standing up.

But the boy stepped away from her. "Why?" he snapped. "Want to see what a good job you did?"

"I over-reacted," Hotaru said. "And I apologize. Something you haven't done yet!" She took a breath. "It looks swollen. I can heal it."

"Swollen? What gave it away? Fact that half my face is purple?" His face was not quite so bad yet. Only the area around his left eye was purple. Though his face was swollen red across his cheek and part of his forehead too.

"I just want to heal it," Hotaru said, reaching out for him.

"No!" He said, stepping away again. "I don't want your freaky powers anywhere near me."

"They're not freaky," Hotaru snapped.

"You think?" He snorted and shook his head. "You know, I kind of trust Kara, maybe you're not a Sailor Scout. But at least they're sorta cool," he walked backwards down the hall, she could see his fists clenched in his pockets as if he were afraid to turn his back to her. "No one knows what the hell you are!" he called once he reached the door to the stairwell, darting through them and down to his classes.

 _I'd tell you exactly who I was if I was allowed to!_ Hotaru fumed. _Then at least you wouldn't talk about them in front of me._

She was still standing stiffly in the middle of the hallway when Kara emerged from the office.

"He says to wait a few minutes," Kara said. "Then he'll call you." She smiled. "He says I'm not in trouble."

"Of course not," Hotaru muttered. "You didn't punch anyone in the face."

"Well… he won't be mad. He knows _why_." Kara said.

Hotaru's eyes widened. "I told you not to tell him why!"

"I didn't say why _exactly_ ," Kara said, frowning. "But…why can't I tell him?"

"Cause… you can't." Hotaru said.

Kara rolled her eyes. "It won't be too bad." She looked up at the camera in the corner of the hallway. "Sorry… I'm supposed to go back to class."

"Go," Hotaru said, waving a dismissive hand.

"I'll stop by yours and get your homework for you!" Kara promised, before turning and running down the hall.

Hotaru waved her off as she too disappeared down the stairs and looked into the office. The shades were drawn, but that didn't stop the flash of lavender light from shining through. She gulped. When it faded, she could see three adults sitting down in the office chairs, and the door most definitely didn't stop her from noticing their distinctive energy signatures, especially Mama Michiru's, which was so much _stranger_ now than the others.

Her father…and all three of her mothers… no doubt talking about her.

 _I'm so screwed,_ she thought, shuffling over to the door and pressing her ear to it. They were talking softly. She strained to hear.

" _What have we told you about eavesdropping?"_ Michiru thought to her. " _We aren't talking about anything bad. Go wait in the chair."_

Hotaru scowled. " _Fine,"_ she muttered, shuffling over to the chair and plopping down into it.

The office door clicked open a few minutes later, and Papa Haruka leaned outside, smiling at her. "Come on in," she told Hotaru.

Hotaru stood up and crossed her arms, stepping warily into the office.

They were all there… Her father was watching her with his sad eyes while he twirled his pen between his fingers, and Mama Setsuna had her "let's talk about it," smile, and Mama Michiru...

Mama Michiru didn't look mad. Her eyes were soft as she watched Hotaru walk up to the desk. As she gestured to the empty seat between she and Mama Setsuna, she maintained a stare that made Hotaru want to replay her actions in study hour in her head detail by detail and figure out what she was going to do differently next time because Mama was _definitely_ going to ask.

 _I'm really really screwed,_ Hotaru sulked as she sank down into the middle chair across from her father's desk.

"Well," her father said. "Young Mr. Kato, according to the nurse does _not_ have a broken cheekbone, though we are still a little concerned he might have a concussion."

"I didn't hit him _that_ hard," Hotaru muttered.

"And I believe you, and I've ascertained from talking to Miss. Aino that your reaction was more than provoked." He laced his hands together under his chin. "Mr. Kato did not remember exactly what he said that made you punch him, and Miss. Aino, I suspect, either didn't hear or elected not to tell me. She did say, however, that he was ridiculing your powers."

Hotaru nodded, keeping her eyes on her lap.

"What did he say, Sweet Pea?" Papa Haruka asked, now standing behind Hotaru's chair.

Hotaru shrugged. "It wasn't anything new," she said, wishing more than ever that her temper and her telekinesis hadn't crunched her desk into a ball this morning.

It hadn't been _her_ fault they'd been talking about the Accountability Initiative.

" _I heard they can get arrested if it goes through,"_ Kato had been saying to his friends.

" _For what?"_

" _Does it matter – do you hear what they're saying? They're crystal people from outer space, and their own kind's come back to get 'em. We'd only be doing them a favour."_

" _How do you arrest them – they've got powers!"_

" _Well how am I supposed to know? I'm not the police. But I bet they're gonna. And when they do we can send them back to space – do you think those aliens coming to take them back will reward us?"_

" _But I thought they were humans."_

" _Oh keep up would you, Sato. Course they're not. They just…"_

"I thought you said the teasing had stopped?" Mama Michiru asked her.

"It did!" Hotaru said, "Mostly…"

" _Holy shit, Tomoe? What did you do?"_

" _That's her desk… she just… crunched it up."_

And Kato had gotten in her face. " _Are you a senshi too?"_

And Kara had butted in. " _No!"_ she'd rushed to Hotaru's desk with her math textbook still in hand. " _She's definitely not. She just… she got her powers from the senshi."_

"When ever my telekinesis acts up people get frightened." Hotaru explained to her parents. "That's why they tease."

"And thanks to Miss. Aino we now have an explanation we can use for that," Mr. Tomoe said. "I'm more than happy to stick to it."

"What!" Hotaru jerked her head up, gaping. "No!"

Her father sighed and removed his glasses. "I know, it isn't ideal…" He wiped the lenses and put them back on his face. "But if your powers continue acting up, we'd have had to think of something."

" _She… uh."_ Kara had floundered. _"Well she got them when that enemy possessed the old school. The Senshi gave her powers so she could fight back!"_

For a moment it had seemed like a good idea. Hotaru'd nodded along with Kara's assertion _. "That's why I'm not sick anymore,"_ she'd tried to convince her classmates. _"The senshi saved my life."_

" _Seriously?"_ Kato had not been convinced. _"So they can infect people too?"_ Her classmates had gasped, and any hope of a positive outcome had gone down the drain.

"It is going to be for the best," Mama Setsuna agreed. "Your classmates will stop wondering where you get your powers, and you, in turn, will see less taunting for it." she'd shaken her head. "For the punch though…"

"I'd rather she be known for her right hook than her mystery powers," Papa Haruka stood up for her. "And you didn't even scrape your knuckles."

Michiru cleared her throat.

"Not…that…hitting is okay."

"I know," Hotaru muttered.

" _They don't infect people with powers!"_ Hotaru'd protested.

" _Well isn't that why Kara's got that symbol on her wrist now?"_ Kato'd said. _"I bet it is! Venus was trying to turn you into a senshi wasn't she?"_

" _No!"_ Kara'd said, turning her wrist so the Venus symbol was pressed against her book. _"That's not true!"_

" _That you know!"_ Kato'd shot back _. "I bet that's why they kicked your sister out – cause she was turning you into a freak too."_

" _Leave Kara alone,"_ Hotaru'd told him, standing up from her desk and stepping in front of the younger girl. _"The symbol's just a tattoo."_

" _Yeah right,"_ someone'd snickered _. "If that's a tattoo, then you really got held back three years."_

" _I was sick,"_ Hotaru'd reiterated for the umpteenth time, thankful none of them had gone to Juuban Elementary _. "My growth was stunted, and I stayed out of school until I was better."_

" _And the senshi infected you with freaky powers."_ Kato'd sneered. " _You know seeing as Kara's parents kicked her sister out, I think you'd better watch your back."_ He'd stepped closer to her. " _Or be lucky you're the Principal's only kid."_

" _Knock it off,"_ she'd warned him.

" _At least Kara's parents have a replacem –"_

"He just called me a freak too many times," Hotaru said. "So Ipunched him. And I shouldn't have." She looked up at all of them. "I'm sorry."

Mama Michiru raised her eyebrow and glanced around at the others. Then she sighed. "Alright," she said.

Her father nodded. "I want you to know," he said. "That in any other situation I would have you write a letter of apology to Mr. Kato, bring the three of you in for detention counselling, and have that be the end of things." He gave her a kind look. "However, given that you are my daughter, and thus I rely on you to be a model of behaviour at school."

Hotaru sighed.

"Your punishment does need to be harsher if I want Mr. Kato's parents to be assured I am not guilty of favouritism."

"So suspension," Hotaru stated, shoulders slumping.

"Yes," her father said. And she looked up when Mama Setsuna and Mama Michiru put a hand on her shoulders. "Through Friday." He cleared his throat. "I'm aware that I am not the best voice to help you cope with the particularly negative spin the news has taken since last week… and so I think so long as we take necessary precautions," he looked at her over the top of his glasses. "And you do all of your classwork."

"She will," Setsuna assured him.

"Then you will serve your suspension at your… at your mothers' house."

Hotaru stared at him. He'd _never_ called them that before. "I'm… being rewarded… for punching someone."

"No," Michiru clarified. "You are still being punished. You're not allowed to have Chibiusa or Kara over, and there will be absolutely no TV and _no_ bike rides."

"Mhmm," Haruka nodded though she looked disappointed. "That'd make people ask questions."

"But…but I can stay with you…for three days?"

"And the weekend," Mr. Tomoe smiled. "Provided you do not get caught outside with the press."

"Why?" Hotaru asked, standing up from her chair.

Souichi Tomoe stood as well, walking out from behind his desk. "Because your classmates aren't going to stop spreading rumors about the Senshi, Hotaru, and I think you'd do better to spend the week with other people who understand the affects of these rumors far better than I do." He smiled. "It is our hope that the next time Mr. Kato or one of his friends begins to taunt you, you'll feel secure enough not to knock him on the ground."

"Unless he tries it first," Haruka interjected.

Hotaru moved away from her chair and around the office to her father, hugging him tightly. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't thank me yet," her father murmured when she pulled away. "You'll still have to come to a counselling session with Mr. Kato on Monday."

"Fine," Hotaru looked back at her three moms. "Does my suspension start right now?"

"Well there are two hours left of the day," Mr. Tomoe said.

"But it's only Algebra!" Hotaru said. "And History…"

"We'll have her do extra homework," Setsuna assured him.

Mr. Tomoe'd rolled his eyes. "Alright." And Hotaru then had to try incredibly hard not to grin when Papa Haruka put her arm around her shoulders and Mama Setsuna transformed and summoned the time doors to take them home.

"I'll stop by for her homework at dinner time," Sailor Pluto promised Mr. Tomoe as Hotaru ran ahead through the doors. "Thank you."

He shook his head. "It's what's best for her." He'd leaned against his desk. "How do you all plan to get on top of these press stories?"

"We were working on it," Setsuna said. "Right now, actually."

She let the doors close on the office then, as Hotaru exchanged a wave with her father. The sands swirled only once before the doors opened again, onto the bright living room of the penthouse. Hotaru ran out ahead of all of them.

"We're doing a bang up job of making this a punishment," Haruka muttered.

"She hasn't spent more than a night here in ages," Michiru smiled. "I don't think it was ever going to feel like a punishment."

"Did you know this was going to happen today?" Hotaru called from the kitchen, appearing through the window of the breakfast bar. She was holding a handful of cookies. "You did, didn't you! These are fresh!" She bit one and wrinkled her nose, glaring at the cookie "Why does it have ginger in it?"

"Not my call, kid," Haruka said. "Ask Michi."

"They have ginger because they're not _for_ you," Michiru explained. "I baked them because ginger is something that reliably goes down well and I've been craving it in sweets all week." She walked into the kitchen herself and lifted a plate off the top of the microwave. "That said, yes we did know this was going to happen, and since I didn't want to be unfair – these are yours."

Hotaru grinned as she took them from Michiru. The chocolate chips were still melty. "Thanks, wait," She frowned up at Michiru. "Why did you say 'goes down well' are you sick?"

Michiru giggled. "I thought we went over this Friday…"

Hotaru's eyes widened. "Oh…yeah… that."

"That," Michiru said as she smirked and absently rested one hand over her stomach.

" _At least Kara's parents have a replacement."_

Hotaru looked at the plate of cookies. "These are great," she said. "Can I take them to my room and do my homework?"

"Did I hear that right?" Haruka asked. She and Setsuna were leaning through the breakfast bar window. "The first thing you want to do now that you're home is your homework."

"Uh… yeah!" Hotaru insisted. "Cause I want to be responsible."

"Your father won't have your homework for the week ready until 19:00," Setsuna said.

"No… but I already have my homework from my morning classes," Hotaru said, adjusting her backpack. "I can get that done now."

Her parents exchanged glances, and shrugs. "Alright," Setsuna said. "Try not to eat all of them before dinner."

"I won't!" Hotaru promised, walking into the hallway.

"And dinner will be at 18:30," Setsuna said. "Mina will be here, but that's it."

"Mina?" Hotaru wondered for a moment. And then realized. "She lives _here_ now."

"Well it is the best place to get some peace and quiet," Haruka said. "Which Mina needs more than the rest of us, I bet."

"But otherwise it'll just be us," Michiru assured her, "And you'll get the chance to talk about everything going on in the news."

Hotaru bit her lip. "Okay." She turned down the hall towards her room. "See you later."

"She's acting a little strange," Haruka noted once they'd heard Hotaru's door slam. Setsuna and Michiru nodded in agreement.

"Maybe she's just having a bad day," Michiru said. "I feel like she and Chibiusa will have to deal with more fall out from this than us."

"Cause now they're constantly hearing everyone talk about it _and_ having to watch their backs," Haruka said.

"We need to get our voice back into the media," Setsuna said, "Try to quell the tension."

"How?" Michiru wondered. "The anchors and the journalists would just skew our words to fit their story… there's no one unbiased."

Setsuna's eyes widened. "Not unbiased no…" she considered it… it might be enough. They could wait until the city was not so high strung from the battle and release it in the Sunday papers…. "But maybe bias is good. If they're biased enough to tell our side of things." She whipped out her phone.

 _ **Setsuna: My Queen, I think your father will be able to help us with our media problem.**_

 _ **Neo Queen Serenity: Setsunaaaaaaa XD you know you don't have to call me that.**_

 _ **Neo Queen Serenity: Wait…How?**_

Ikuko Tsukino heard her daughter's phone ping and then Usagi cheer. She turned around, pleased to see a hopeful smile on her face as she leaned against the kitchen counter. "Good news?" she asked, closing the oven and dusting her hands off on her apron.

"The best news!" Usagi looked up at her. "Setsuna figured out how to get the media to tell our side!"

"That's wonderful!" Ikuko said. "How?"

"We can have Dad write the story."

The Tsukino matriarch beamed. "And then it would be printed in the newspaper that originally broke the story – honey that's excellent!" She moved to get the plates down from the cabinet. "You know I've been _telling_ him he should pitch a story telling your side of things. He is an editor after all. But he keeps saying 'only if Usagi asks. He's being too polite about treading on any…"

She nearly dropped the plates as the front door slammed. Kenji Tsukino stormed in, jerking his tie loose from his collar and setting down his briefcase. He stood in the kitchen, closed his eyes, and sighed.

"Dad?" Usagi frowned.

"I did it," he said. "The paper's executives are going to regret this."

"Dear…" Ikuko said, setting down the plates and turning around. She crossed her arms. "You're home early…"

"I am." He nodded, smiling. In the living room the TV turned off and Chibiusa and Shingo came to the doorway. "And – I know I might be regretting it next week when the bills come in. But honestly, Honey, I feel great about it now."

"Great about what?" Shingo asked.

"Son – I told them _exactly_ what happens when you push a man to far. I tell you they've been pressuring me to interview my own daughter for weeks – all for a story." He opened his eyes and grinned. "So I told them if they wanted to focus on this and not on all the other noteworthy news stories around this city, they could find themselves a new lackie!" He looked at all of them, still grinning. "I quit."

They all gaped at him. Usagi glanced nervously at her mother.

Ikuko narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"I quit!" Kenji repeated merrily. "They've been pressuring me to do a senshi interview for weeks – and I wasn't having it – so I quit."

" _No!_ " Ikuko whispered in a voice that made the children shiver. " _No. Absolutely not."_

"Uh," Kenji gulped. "Now Honey, come on."

"You mean to tell me," Ikuko said. "That you've had the chance to tell their side of the story for weeks, and you've been turning it down."

"No!" Kenji said. "They've wanted me to write the paper's side, not Usagi's – I put my foot down." And he stamped his foot on the kitchen floor for emphasis.

Ikuko shook her head. "No, I don't believe this. You are a senior editor." She said, heels clacking as she walked up to her husband, standing nose to nose with him. "Did it ever occur to you to press them to publish the story _you_ wanted to write?"

"Er…"

"Because you absolutely could have," Ikuko told him, fixing his hair. "You are an amazing writer – which you know, because you are the youngest senior editor at any of the major papers."

"I only work hard!" Kenji said. "I also work ethically."

"And that's what you're going to do now." She grabbed his tie, tightened it back up to his collar and straightened his coat. "You are going to march yourself back to work. And you are going to tell them "yes." You will write a story about the senshi. You will write as many stories as they want. In fact you will write them a whole book, because you will more than have the interview material to do so."

"But…it's Usagi's and her friends."

"And that's what they've decided they want – a writer they trust to tell precisely everything that all the rumors are getting wrong." She reached down, grabbed his briefcase and pressed it back into his hand. "And who better than you?"

"Um."

"Exactly."

"But…" Kenji stuttered. "But I've just quit."

"Then you'd better demand your job back hadn't you – before you even get to the office. Here." She snatched his phone from his pocket and scanned through the contacts list. It was already ringing when she put it in his hand. "Go on, you have work to do."

"I…" Kenji said as she coerced him out the door. They saw his eyes widen as someone on the other end picked up the phone. "Yes! Hello. I've just spoken to my wife. I mean I'll do the story! I mean… yes, I would like to keep my job. Yes… I'm coming in to discuss that now. G-goodbye."

He lowered the phone as the paper's executive hung up. He was standing in the doorway now. And Ikuko was smiling at him.

"All set?" she asked him

"I think so…" he said.

"I knew you could do it, sweetie." She leaned up and kissed him, pushing him further out the front door in the process. "Now, I don't want to see you in this house again until dinner, when you tell us all about your next interview." And before Kenji could respond, she shut the front door.

"And that," she nodded to Usagi, "Is how you handle men."

She looked at Shingo and Chibiusa. "I heard the TV on. I'm sure you saw Juuban's re-opening the middle school tomorrow. Have you finished your homework yet?"

"No!" They confessed together immediately. "We're almost done," Shingo said, grabbing Chibiusa's hand and pulling her back into the living room.

"I haven't done _anything_ yet!" Shingo said as they reached the living room where the pencil case lay unopened on the coffee table atop their textbooks. "Here," He said, shoving it at Chibiusa. "Are there any highlighters in there?" he asked, grabbing the top most textbook and shuffling through it. Science. Did he have science homework to do?

"There's one left," Chibiusa was saying. "Lemme – ahh!" Shingo jumped as the pencil case slammed into the coffee table, pencils and erasers and the high lighter spilling out of the open box.

He looked up at Chibiusa and his eyes widened. "Your hands!"

Chibiusa crossed her arms. "They're sweaty, shut up."

"No they're like…see through."

" _No they're not_ ," Chibiusa said, holding them out to him. "See."

He blinked. And he grabbed her right hand just to be sure. "But… but."

"Uncle Shingo," Chibiusa rolled her eyes. "You're seeing things."

He gaped at her. "But…"

"It just slipped," Chibiusa said, staring at him with hard amber eyes. "Got it?"

Shingo nodded. "Um…"

" _Got it_!"

He looked her up and down and stared at her hands, which were fists in her lap. But still solid. "Maybe I was seeing things," he muttered.

"Exactly," Chibiusa nodded and grabbed her math practice book off the table. "Pass me the purple one," she said, pointing to one of the pencils near his side of the table.

Shingo did, and watched her for ten minutes, his eyes tracking her steady hand as she solved every problem on the page. "Chibiusa…"

"Don't tell Usagi," she whispered. "I'm _fine."_

 _~Á Suivre~_


	2. The Interview

AN: Apologies for the long wait. Between work, grad school apps and of course _Sailor Moon H_ , I do not have the freedom to write that I did last year. But I am still continuing. (I JUST FINISHED MY FIRST GRAD SCHOOL APPLICATION!) And as I wrap up _Sailor Moon H,_ I will be able to prioritize this. So HAPPY 2017 to everyone! Let's all work together to fight for our own future against our own demons, who are (as our scouts are finding) perhaps closer to home and harder to deal with than your normal ancient evil monsters.

Disclaimer: See chapter one

 _Last Time on Age of Aquarius: With negative press coming at them from all sides, and anti-senshi rhetoric and action mounting around Tokyo, the scouts have agreed to an Interview with Kenji Tsukino to get their own story into the press. Meanwhile, work continues on whether or not sunspots growing in the Earth's core are affecting public opinion – and what can be done to get them out._

 **The Interview**

"Dear!" Ikuko said sharply as she bumped into Kenji for the fourth time and nearly spilled the four dishes she was balancing onto the floor.

Kenji looked up from his notebook and blinked. He looked around, and then, when Ikuko cleared her throat, up at her. His wife's face was red, and she was frowning like she did when she realized he was listening to the TV and not to her. What had he done this time? "Uh…" he glanced at the dishes stacked in her hand as Ikuko adjusted the top one. "The plates look nice."

Ikuko sighed. "I should never have married a writer _and_ a man," she said, giving him a shrewd look. "Each is absent minded in their own right; the combination together…" she shook her head and set the plates down on the table where she'd intended them to go. "As I said five minutes ago when your chair nearly lost us the soup: either plan your interview in your office, or our room, or on the roof. I do not care, so long as it is not being planned in the middle of my kitchen _while I am cooking_."

"But… but I write here every day." Kenji said.

Ikuko crossed her arms. "Kenji – how many people are coming over for dinner?"

"I believe it's still seven unless Chibiusa's invited Hotaru…"

"And _how_ many people do I normally cook for?"

"The five of us," Kenji said, looking around at all the glasses and dishes that had been packed around the table.

"Exactly," Ikuko snapped. "That is more than twice as many things I need to prepare – and you have so far gotten in the way of most of them. And," she gestured to his notebook, ream of notes and printed articles, and the highlighters and pens that had started out in his pockets but had somehow migrated into a haphazard array that spanned the dinner table. "You are taking up valuable table space."

He flushed, moving to sweep his mess off the table. "Sorry," he said. "I did attempt to do this in the office, but I had a lot on my mind – being near you helps me focus."

That earned him a smile, and then Ikuko dusted off her hands on her apron and grabbed his collar, leaning close and kissing him. "I love you too," she told him. "And I'm sure your questions are all written up seeing as I glanced at them this morning and they looked wonderful then. Now get out of my kitchen."

"They're not wonderful!" he protested. "I mean… look at the 12th question." he thrust the notebook towards her. "Is that tactful? Can I ask that?"

Ikuko raised her eyebrows. "I am not the Senior Editor – if your assistant brought it to you, what would you say?"

"I would say… yes, but that trick doesn't work when _I've_ written all of these!"

"And Luna approved or suggested most of them," Ikuko said. "Including 12, if I am not mistaken."

Kenji sighed. Yes, that was right. He briefly recalled that Luna had seemed to pause on that one – her ears had twitched. But that was surely a normal cat gesture. How was he to have any clue what it meant? "You're right. Sorry. I'm just very nervous." He chuckled, looking at the packed place settings around the table. "I've never had my assignments over for dinner before."

"And they've never had a journalist coordinate questions with their advisors," Ikuko said, taking his notebook and closing it before setting it on the table behind him. "I think all of you are a little nervous…"

She grabbed his hand as he stared at the closed notebook on the table and at the heap of his notes beside it: a jumble of printouts and loose leaf pages jammed into a folder and decorated in coffee stains and multi-coloured sticky notes.

From the living room, they heard shouting emanating from the television: from the protesters angry about the Sailor Accountability Initiative, and from the overwhelming numbers of Initiative supporters. Both were clashing in front of one of the government buildings. Kenji forgot which, for the news had been the background noise of their lives recently. Ikuko refused to turn it off. He'd gotten good at tuning it out.

Kenji looked at Ikuko as they heard something shatter on the television – like glass had been thrown. Ikuko's hair flew around her as she turned towards the living room and leaned away from him to check the TV. He caught a glimpse of grey strands peaking up among the roots of her purple curls. He couldn't recall when they'd appeared.

The shouting on the TV had now completely drowned out the newscaster. Kenji bit his lip. He'd seen many times when the populace's emotions had been riled up by an enemy. Not even the riots spawned by the Negaverse's magic years ago had produced this high an escalation of outrage so quickly.

"A million articles aren't going to stop this," Kenji whispered. "Not if this has magic helping it along."

"Are you a wizard now?" Ikuko teased, turning back to him. "How do you know if it will or won't help?"

"Because what can I do?" Kenji worried, looking down when she squeezed his hand. "Against an enemy they are struggling to deal with, against a public outcry that I can't understand? What can I do if this is magic?"

Ikuko smiled and turned his hand over, She used her other hand to push up his sleeve, so that the crescent symbol that had appeared on his wrist months ago – identical to hers and Shingo's – caught the light.

"I bet Usagi thought that too, years ago," Ikuko told him. "And look at her now." She released his hand and kissed him again, briefly straightening his tie. "Have a little faith in your abilities, won't you? It's not all magic making people mad – its rumors. You are an investigative reporter – you love crushing rumors."

He smiled at that. "I suppose… and I am telling a side of things that no one's heard yet!"

"Exactly what you told me yesterday," Ikuko said, checking her phone as an alarm sounded. She briskly turned it off and stepped away from him, moving to the stove. She flicked off all the burners, checked the oven, and placing the still steaming pots off to the side with the large dishes they'd be emptied into. "Now," she said, untying her apron. "Half hour left – I need to run out to the pharmacy before I forget." She winked at him as she moved into the hallway to grab her spring coat and purse. "So you can stay at your disruptive kitchen office a while longer – do try not to have a crisis while I'm out."

He laughed and settled back into his chair as she left the kitchen. "What do you need the pharmacy for?" he called after her

"Folic acid," Ikuko called from the front door.

"Folic acid…" Kenji raised his eyebrows. "But that's for…" he felt all the blood rush from his face and plummet all the way down to his shoes. His chair scrapped against the wood floor as he stood. " _Honey!"_

Even as he moved to the hall, he heard Ikuko burst into laughter. She waved her hand at him. "Oh _relax,_ Dear. It's not for me." And she blew him a kiss before slipping out the door.

Kenji sighed and slapped his hand over his face. "She riles you up on purpose – and you fall for it – _every time,"_ he muttered to himself as he turned and shuffled back to his seat at the kitchen table. He sunk back into his chair and reached for his notebook. The wording of question 12 still bothered him.

He'd thought of a new word to put in and had put his pen to the paper when he froze.

 _Is it for Usagi!_

His pen clattered to the table and rolled onto the floor as Kenji fumbled for his phone. " _IKUKO!"_

~ _AgeofAquarius~_

Ami jumped – turning away from the computer she'd been staring at and towards the rapid knocking sound coming from her apartment door.

"Ami!" Daiki called. "Did it work? Is it done yet?"

"Hang on," she called, standing up from her desk and glancing around. She hastily tucked the blue Mercurian helmet and the broken Mercury palm-top into the top drawer of her bureau. Just because she'd accidentally let the flash-drive (full of Mercury hard-drive data) wind up in Daiki's hands, didn't mean she was ready to reveal the rest of the Sailor technology she worked with. After all, if Mina's own mother couldn't be trusted with their secrets, It would be foolish of her to reveal any more to the boy she was dating, or trying to date… conducting a dating experiment with was the best way she could phrase it right now.

But Daiki _had_ managed to get the virus off the flash-drive, someway she still couldn't fathom. And in her excitement at having that information in her possession, at last, she'd (impulsively for certain) agreed to let him help her explore the data.

 _Maybe,_ Ami thought as she opened the door and welcomed him in. _If he proves I can trust him with the hard-drive… maybe he can help me with the rest_. After all, the palmtop and the helmet were still pieces of technology she was hard-pressed to repair anytime soon (what with the projects for school and preparing defenses against their current enemy pushing both to the back burner). _I want him to be able to help me,_ Ami decided as she opened the door and let him in. Daiki hugged her as he soon as he'd stepped through her door. He immediately began to prattle on about the computer science and chemistry projects they'd been set in class. _It's nice to have someone around who can keep up with me._

Then, as he dropped the sandwiches he'd brought for them to share onto the corner of her desk, his eyes fell on the computer. He grinned "Is that it? It's nearly finished isn't it?"

"I did say a half hour," Ami smiled, checking her watch. "And thank you – you didn't have to bring those," she said, moving to put the sandwiches in her mini-fridge. "I told you it'd be a tight time-frame. I have a dinner to go to in a little while."

"How long?"

"That depends on Mina," Ami said, smiling. "She does drive fast, but she never manages to leave on time, so I'm a bit unsure of the time-frame."

"Well that's fine – look!" he said, pointing to the screen of her PC where the download bar was now creeping up on 98% "Only five minutes left!"

"I know," Ami pulled up the other chair that was tucked into her small dining table, now more of a book depository than a place to eat.

Daiki took the chair from her and spun it around, straddling it and leaning over the back. He smiled at her as she retook her seat in the blue desk chair. "Have you been watching this all afternoon?"

"Only since three," Ami said, fingers hovering over the keyboard as she checked the download progress. Four minutes left. She once again wished she had her palm-top back. That had handled these files in barely a blink. "I wonder if it's taking so long simply because some of the file types are incompatible or if the actual coding used on Mercury is the problem."

"Hmm," Daiki said as she impatiently tapped the keyboard. "Well, it took about the same amount of time when I put it in my computer. Dunno about the files. I didn't open any – promise!" he assured her, raising his hands palm up.

Ami chuckled. "I'm sure you didn't." She flicked her eyes towards the screen again. The download bar was hovering at 99%... 99.2…99.4…5…6. She swiveled her chair closer to the desk and grabbed the mouse. "Thankfully I did anticipate a PC might have some trouble." She grinned as the bar flashed 100% and a new window popped up. Files flooded the screen, all named in Lunarian and Mercurian script. "I had our advisors help me design a program that would open these on a normal computer." She said, hovering over one of the Lunarian files. "Sailor Mercurys…" she read the title as she clicked on it – one of the largest files with a Lunarian title.

" _You can read that?"_ Daiki marveled.

"Only the ones in this language," Ami said, crossing her fingers as the program she'd transferred from the Lunar command computer attempted to open the file…

"These are in more than one language?" Daiki muttered. "I thought…"

Ami didn't hear the rest, though; attention caught on the screen where the alien programming language was being processed. "Come on," she muttered.

A few moments later the computer blinked. The window with the programming language closed and another popped up. She cheered internally as she noted it was written all in Lunarian with a title and the paragraphs aligned along the right hand side…

And a black rectangle off to the left… with a symbol in the middle: a circle.

"Could that be a video?" Daiki asked.

It certainly resembled one. Ami's fingers twitched atop the mouse as she dragged the cursor over the black rectangle, forgetting her hesitation at letting Daiki see too much of the Senshi's technology. She clicked on it.

It _was_ a video. She held her breath as it loaded. It was _long_ , nearly an hour so. She flicked her eyes over to the text on the right-hand side of the screen as she waited for the video to play.

 _Compared to some other worlds, such as Jupiter, Uranus, and Earth, Mercury's four guardians have originated from very diverse geographic, and genetic backgrounds. This may account for the greater variation between each Mercury's attacks…_

 _Four Guardians!_ Ami wondered. _As in… four Mercurys… Four of me?_

Then the video finished loading, and a first black-and-white image appeared on the screen. Ami gasped.

"That's not one of you," Daiki murmured.

It certainly wasn't. The collar was too long – forming a cape that extended to the Sailor's feet, and her hair (rendered steely gray in the black-and-white image) was far curlier than Ami's or any of the current senshi. It was gathered in a bun atop the sailor's head and a band of light gems ( _like ice crystals,_ Ami thought) stretched across it.

The ornament at the center of her bow was different too. Not a blue gem, like Ami's first uniform, nor a star like her current one. It did not even resemble Usagi's brooches. Rather, it appeared to be a snowflake, the brightest, whitest part of the whole portrait.

The image changed too quickly for Ami's liking, though the next certainly gave more hints of the colors in the first picture: it was a drawing, photographed perhaps ages after its creation if the yellowing of the paper it was rendered on were any judge. In this, Ami could clearly see the blues of the ancient Mercury's uniform, the darker blue of her curls and the dark tone of her skin which stood out against the bright, blinding white of the desert sands she stood on – to say nothing for the sand daimon that towered several stories high above her.

 _I didn't realize there were other Mercurys!_ Ami stared as another drawing appeared. The same Sailor, the same battle. This time, the ancient drawing showed a wind of snowflakes, which must have been sharp as razors, slicing into the giant daimon and turning several of its limbs back into sand.

"Can you do that?" Daiki murmured.

"I…I can." _Can't I?_ Ami stared as the picture changed again, a whole cyclone of ice and snow spun around the daimon, unhampered by the intense heat she assumed existed in the ancient desert landscape. She gaped at another image, of that same cyclone shining like sunlight, giving off a rainbow of color, and then (another picture): a pool of water spreading across the desert, the ancient Mercury pumping her fist into the air, and the spot where the sand daimon had stood empty save a small wisp of smoke.

 _Aqua Rhapsody couldn't do anything like that…_ Ami thought. She glanced at the corner of the screen and narrowed her eyes. There in the corner was a date, of the kind Luna had taught her to read years ago. _Sagittarius 1116…_ Her eyes widened. _But that was 40,400 years ago!_

 _Well, the Sun is 4.5 billion years old that's hardly a long time…_

"Mercury had people that long ago?" Ami murmured, flicking her eyes to the Lunarian text to the right of the video – to a date that matched that timeframe. Her eyes lit on one near the top of the page: " _Sagittarius 620s: the earliest known records of Olympé date from this decade in the old city of Everblossom, the original settlement of the current capital which is named for her – Olympus."_

"Like the city of the gods," Ami whispered. "I wonder if all Earth's myths aren't corrupted pieces of these histories."

"Ami," Daiki nudged her with his elbow. "That's a different person on the video now."

Ami flicked her eyes back, going to the date first. _Leo 1264._ Not a Sailor uniform, she noted, though in the intervening millennia clearly someone had discovered colored film. The teenager in the picture nearly blended in with the background – her pale skin taking on the same blue sheen from the lighting as the snow and ice around her. She was the only person not dressed in a thick coat or cloak: and had her brown shirt rolled up to her elbows as her hands nimbly plucked metal parts and tools off of the ice at her feet. She worked so quickly Ami could barely follow her hands, much faster even than the other teens around her. _A competition?_ Ami wondered as they raced to put the pieces together into what she thought at first was a thick snowboard…

And then the girl the camera'd focused on finished what she was building. She brushed tight braids of dark blue hair away from her face, revealing the blue Mercury sigil on her forehead. Her pale eyes (behind her round blue glasses) glinted like the snow around her as she cheered in a language Ami found, with a pang in her chest, that she did not understand. The teenager lifted what she'd been building over her head and pressed a button on its side.

The bottom of the board lit up bright blue as the girl let it go. Ami stared. Beside her, Daiki whistled. It wasn't a snowboard the girl had built – but a hoverboard that remained stationary right over her head. She leaped into the air, completing a full flip before landing on the board and bowing; the other teens, still in the snow, stared in awe and envy. She must have leaped twelve feet at least to complete the flip and land solidly…

"She's a Sailor too isn't she?" Daiki asked. "Does it say her name?"

Ami looked to the accompanying text again, scanning past details she was sure she wanted to stay up later reading, looking for any dates in _Leo_ – _there…_

"Asima…" Ami murmured, flicking back to the video.

The records for this Sailor Mercury were far more extensive. Videos of her went a whole twenty minutes more. Ami barely heard any of Daiki's exclamations and questions as she watched Asima battle, alone, through daimons and dark storms and even veritable _armies_.

 _Could I do that… Do I really have power like that?_

"Are you in this?" Daiki asked as they watched an older Asima – in a Sailor form with a cape that brushed her knees – gather a glacier's worth of ice around her and dive off a different hover-board. She and her ice plummeted downwards towards a red planet, into what, Ami realized, was a sea of molten lava, boiling over an angry, blood red. Dark power rippled across its surface as it stretched across the planet. The lava was so hot, half the ice around Asima melted before she breached the surface. Ami squeaked as the old Sailor splashed into it, her hoverboard still above the planet's atmosphere. Whoever was filming was talking in a high rapid voice, in the still unfamiliar language that was surely Mercurian. They shouted something as the magma that blanketed the planet suddenly turned white, even the flames that burned miles into the air around it changed to white light.

And then those flames shrunk and vanished. The lava pool remained white, as it slowly and stunningly evaporated off the surface, into heavy clouds of steam.

"She turned that into snow," Daiki murmured as they watched what had once been magma continue to evaporate and recede, revealing healthy fields of green beneath it. "Damn… I'm pretty sure you can't do that?" Daiki chuckled.

"Could I?" Ami wondered. _Could I be that strong?_

Even the thought that there were Sailors with her powers who could hold their own – who could _win_ handily against such clearly powerful forces made her hands tense into fists on the desktop. She had contented herself so long with the rationale that no single one of them was strong enough to fight alone… except for Sailor Moon, and then the outer senshi, and now Venus too...

 _I always thought my powers were naturally weaker?_ Ami thought. _But… but I can't do anything like either of these Mercurys…_

"Woah!"

Ami refocused on the video at Daiki's shout. A new Sailor. A new date: _Aries_. Her eyes scanned down the text file to the same era. Her name… _Zeinab_.

She and Daiki watched this Mercury and her battles on worlds Ami could only guess the names of. When she could finally recognize a planet, it was her own – She could tell by the circular room Zeinab stood in, identical to the one she had found on Mercury with the super computer. Though in Zeinab's time, it appeared much different: with no ceiling, no computer… and a great tree with glowing blue leaves stretching up through the middle, high into the night sky.

Ami leaned closer to the screen as Zeinab put her hand against the aged, icy wood of the tree, smirking. Her eyes and tiara glowed a bright blue, the same as the tree's leaves. The camera panned away from Zeinab, towards a dark nighttime landscape (visible through a window that spanned part of the wall). Many blue lights began to pop up across a vast tundra of ice.

A car honked outside. Ami ignored it, watching as whole, glowing blue saplings sprouted from the ground across Mercury's surface. She stared at Zeinab's confident, still smirking face. _We could grow things!_ Ami thought. _That's no relation to water or ice at all_ …

Her cell phone buzzed on the desk, but Ami didn't hear it, mind focused solely on reassessing, scrapping, and reformulating every observation, theory, and supposition she'd ever made about the senshi's powers, and most of all about her powers. _How do I get that powerful?_ Ami thought. _How?_

Her cell phone was buzzing for the third time when a new clip began: an older Zeinab strolled, in full uniform, into the same wide, circular room. Her grin stood out compared to the nervous expressions of the others milling about. Ami didn't look away as she fumbled for her phone. Beside the window that looked out onto Mercury's tundra, there was a new addition: a large mirror positioned across one section of the circular walls. It displayed an enormous comet heating up red and orange. Through the open roof of the room, and the glowing blue leaves of the great tree, Ami saw an identical red and orange light rapidly approaching in the sky.

Ami lifted the phone as it buzzed a fourth time and accepted the call without looking away from the screen. "Hello?"

" _Brains! Oh, thank god_ ," Mina exclaimed. " _I thought you were going to make me fly up to your window._ "

"You're outside…" Ami whispered, eyes widening as she watched the video.

Zeinab looked at the comet in the mirror, spoke to someone else in the room, and then moved to the tree that grew through the center. The confident grin was still spread across the old Sailor's face. She put one hand on the tree. The other, Ami saw, held a harp. _Is that mine?_

" _Uh, of course I'm outside? Did you fall asleep studying? I came to pick you up."_

"For the interview…" Ami recalled.

Zeinab's uniform began to glow blue, and her tiara faded away, revealing the glowing Mercury sigil on her brow. She glared, eyes blazing, at the comet and shouted. " _Aegis_!"

"Aegis…" Ami repeated as she watched blue light fill the giant tree and then appear across the Mercurian surface: trees that had once grown at this Sailor Mercury's command filled with light once more.

" _What?"_ Mina asked. " _Are you listening to me?"_

"Sorry… watching something."

" _Well… I mean great, but… but we're late._ "

The blue lights from Mercury's trees intensified, merging together high in the sky into a translucent dome of blue high up in the atmosphere. _A planet-wide_ _shield_!

" _No I mean like we're really late,"_ Mina rambled. _"I got stuck in traffic… Ami: Usagi's mom wanted us over for dinner like 20 minutes ago… Mako's already threatened to eat my share."_

The blue light that shone off of Zeinab brightened and turned a brilliant white, as did her uniform. Her hand danced across her harp. " _Sol Aqua RHAPSODY!"_

Ami gasped.

" _Exactly… Ami come on! Michiru's gonna worry that I've crashed her car. See she's texting me right now. Ami!"_

"Oh my goodness…" Ami murmured.

Zeinab's _Aqua Rhapsody_ rushed up through the giant tree, into the planet-wide shield she had created. Its glowing blue water crashed right into the threatening comet. The resulting thunder shook the room the old Sailor Mercury stood in. Zeinab stumbled. The giant mirror with the comet's image shattered.

But the shield held. The attack sapped the power from the comet, and then pitched it backward, out into space, so rapidly that Ami had only blinked once before it was a speck of light in the sky.

" _You're not… listening to me… are you?"_

"Sorry!" Ami rushed to say, forcing herself to pause the video. She heard Daiki sigh as she stood from the desk. "Sorry, I am now. Where are you?"

" _Illegally parked on your curb."_

"I'm coming." She hung up the phone and looked at Daiki. "I have to go."

"I figured," he sighed. "I really wanted to watch the rest of this… Wanted to see what you could do."

Ami flushed red. "I'm nowhere near that impressive," she muttered. "I've never done… a quarter of that."

"Well… couldn't you learn to?" Daiki gestured to the computer. "I bet this has all those… spells or whatever."

"I hope so…" She said, rushing to her door and pulling it open. "Sorry we couldn't eat the sandwiches."

He scoffed. "Oh come on you're busy. I know that. I shouldn't have assumed." He grabbed her hand as he led the way out the door and hovered behind her as she locked it. When she turned around he was very close. He leaned down towards her, brushing back her hair. "And I think you're damn impressive," he whispered. "Your brain, your powers… they're astounding, well I mean…" he shook his head and chuckled. "I guess it's not turning lava into snow, but don't start thinking you can't do that – You work harder than anyone I know." He grinned, "I bet you'll be even more amazing."

Ami was sure she was blushing. His confidence in her put a warm feeling in her chest, one that banished the long-ingrained doubts about the strength of her powers.

"Anyways," he said, flustering her with a quick kiss. "If Mina's mad you're late, you can totally blame me." He waved as he strode away. "See you in class."

As he walked away, Ami's phone began buzzing furiously inside her bag. Ami hurried along to the stairs and exit that let out onto the street, going straight to the light blue Porsche that was pulled up onto the curb. She wrenched open the door.

"Finally!" Mina cried, throwing the car into gear and nearly stalling it as she tried to speed away.

Ami heard herself give Mina an apology for being late, but her mind was far away from the car. She curled her hands around her seatbelt and stared at her reflection in the side-view mirror outside. It reflected her frown and her furrowed, thoughtful eyebrows.

They had weaved through the neighbourhood and were out on the main road a few minutes later when Mina spoke to Ami again, tearing her away from her rapidly spinning thoughts. "Sooo…" Mina drawled as they wove through traffic at a speed that normally would have had Ami clinging to the seat. Now her hands were gripping her seatbelt, her eyes staring out the window and not at Mina's speedometer. "Not to spy or anything… but you are giving off an emotional shit storm right now… uh. What kind of video were you watching?"

Ami flushed and looked away from the window, she stared down at her hands as they twisted the seatbelt. "It was something I got off the Mercury hard-drive." She told Mina. "I finally had time to download what I put on the flash-drive."

"Woohoo!" Mina cheered and bumped the ceiling of the Porsche with her fist. "So… what was it? I mean you feel like." Mina frowned. _Stunned, confused, exhilarated_ … "I don't even know what you feel like," Mina said.

"Sorry," Ami tucked her hair behind her ear. "No, I just… I got a bit caught up in what was stored on the hard-drive."

"Which waaaaas?"

"Some part of an encyclopedia I think," Ami thought that was what the Lunarian title had said, but she admittedly was having a hard time recalling. "Or a dossier file, maybe. I didn't have time to look at very much."

"Well, you have a computer's worth of stuff to sort through."

"Part of a computer," Ami reminded her. "67% at most, that's if I was lucky when I downloaded it off the hard-drive." She frowned. "I really hope my planet kept backup files somewhere."

"You'll find them quick if they're there to find," Mina said. "You still haven't said what was in the video."

"I still don't understand the video…" Ami muttered and frowned. "Or the languages."

"Hmm?"

"I can only understand what's in Lunarian," Ami explained. "The video's in Mercurian."

"Well… I might be able to understand it…" Venus frowned. "We had spells for translating speech. I didn't know them, but… Luna might… or she could whip up a translation program as well"

"That's one option." Ami sighed. "Anyways…" she noticed the buildings outside; five minutes from the Tsukinos. "How late are we?"  
"I don't even want to know," Mina said. "As long as we don't miss the interview."

"Do you know what he's going to ask?"

"Besides the questions I've had thrown in my face for two months?" Mina shook her head.

"He could surprise you," Ami pointed out. "I'm sure Mr. Tsukino has a much different perspective on us than the rest of the media."

Outside, Mina's gaze flicked to a TV featuring an image of Senator Hino, no doubt talking up his Sailor Accountability bullshit. The image of the wrecked TV tower was right behind him. "I hope so."

~ _AgeofAquarius~_

Ikuko Tsukino, all the senshi agreed, was a masterful host, firstly for managing to make enough food for nine senshi (several of whom would happily put away two large pizzas per sitting if allowed) and secondly because she managed to make all of them but Haruka forget for a brief time that Kenji Tsukino was a journalist: who would be asking them questions and then publishing their answers in a front page article about them after months of their collective effort to stay _off_ that page of the newspapers.

Ikuko let the conversation travel from their misadventures avoiding the paparazzi, to how Hotaru was doing, to having Chibiusa explain her chances in the upcoming school elections ("She's a shoe-in," Usagi muttered with a smile and roll of her eyes. "She's passing out buttons with her face on them.")

Ikuko was not even fazed by Mina and Ami bursting in half-way through dinner, simply asking after the traffic, pulling out their chairs, and pointing out which dishes had not been polished off by the combined efforts of Usagi, Haruka, and Makoto.

Eventually though, dinner was cleared, the dishes were piled in the sink, and all that sat between the nine of them and Kenji the journalist were nine steaming cups of tea, and Kenji's open notebook.

He clicked his pen and cleared his throat as several of the senshi shifted uncomfortably in their seats. "Well…" he began once he'd ruffled through his notes once more and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I suppose I should start with the most important question."

"What's that – whether we're human or not?" Haruka challenged him. Setsuna squeezed her shoulder and Michiru clasped her hand.

But Kenji Tsukino only frowned at her and shook his head. "Of course not." He looked at Haruka, and then around the table, at all of them. "The most important question: how are you doing?"

There was silence for a few minutes as they glanced at each other, and at Usagi. But their Queen only nodded encouragingly at them, a subtle reminder that she could talk frankly to her father any time, that this was their chance to speak.

"Well…" Haruka cleared her throat and looked up at Kenji. "Honestly…"

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

 _ **SENSHI EXCLUSIVE:**_

 _ **WHAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT TOKYO'S MOST DEDICATED WARRIORS**_

 _Thursday, May 1st_

 _By: Tsukino Kenji_

 _They're my daughter's age – all of them._

 _I learned my daughter, Usagi, was one of the Senshi, nearly two years ago after she disappeared on the twelfth of September, and did not appear again until the twenty-second of December, when we woke up and discovered her asleep in her bed as though she'd never been gone._

 _I didn't know my daughter was a senshi until she told us that day. But I could have guessed, I could have guessed so many times, from the look she sometimes gets in her eyes._

 _It's the kind of look you see on old soldiers – who made it home from wars, who won those wars, but who certainly lost many battles along the way, and with each loss, pieces of themselves._

 _My daughter said that's not how she thinks about it. "I'm not losing who I am," she laughed. Her laugh is one thing that has not changed, and for that, I'm very grateful. "I'm just…" And there was the soldier's look in her eyes again as she explained: "We fight so many evil things: small and big… from this world and other worlds… there's no way that doesn't change you._

" _But it's more like gaining things, not losing things," she went on. "I haven't lost anything. I just appreciate what I have and what I want so much more now because I've seen how they can be destroyed, or taken from me. So… so I do appreciate things more, and I don't think that's bad – I'm more responsible now!" She laughed again. "You and Mom like that!"_

 _I sat down with all the senshi for an extensive interview on Tuesday – all save for Saturn and Chibi Moon (who had homework to do)._

" _If it were our choice homework's all they'd do," Sailor Pluto told me. "But we don't get a say in when fate awakens a sailor, and asking them not to fight because they're young would be quite hypocritical given some of us awakened at their age – and they feel the same instincts and duty to fight evil that we do."_

" _I fight alongside Saturn a lot," Kaioh Michiru added. "And she awakened when she was about seven – I_ hated _that. I care less about fate than Pluto: we keep she and Chibi Moon away from as many fights as we can, but the rest…They need to train," Kaioh reasoned. "And I'd rather train them to fight well and protect them while I can because there may be a day I'm not here to protect them. I feel better knowing I can help them protect themselves."_

 _Saturn and Chibi Moon are hardly lesser senshi for their age either – they are the reason we only have a third of a TV tower to reconstruct rather than a whole one. They're also the reason over 5,000 people were able to find shelter during last week's battle, thanks to a shield that covered the downtown during the heaviest part of the fighting._

 _That's something that's fallen to the wayside this week as many powerful people have flooded the post-battle news with rumors and fear: the majority of Thursday night's battle was our senshi doing their best to protect buildings and civilians._

" _They did come to Tokyo to attack us," Aino Minako confirmed. "But only because what they actually want is a lot bigger than one city – and we're the threat standing in their way."_

" _We're continuing to improve the technology that predicts these attacks," Mizuno Ami added. "So as of now, the shield we built will keep them from attacking Juuban again, and we're hopeful that we'll be able to head them off before they reach population centers in the future."_

 _I wanted to know how they were doing after a battle that had clearly not been easy for them._

" _Honestly," Tenoh Haruka told me, looking to her fellow senshi as she spoke. "I'm okay. I slept for the entire day after, which... it's nice to know we've set the enemy back for a while."_

 _The physical costs of the battle remain with them: Hino Rei still has bandaging concealed beneath her shirt sleeves, and Sailor Pluto is still walking with a slight limp thanks to a building that collapsed on top of her. But like Tenoh, all the senshi are good, or fine, or okay. And all had that soldier's look in their eyes as they said so. It made me wonder if anyone can feel any other way if their version of a bad day is dealing with the life threatening to apocalyptic problems and dangers that the senshi so often do._

 _I wondered how they felt about the reactions to their battle._

" _To be frank, I usually don't care what people think of me," Tenoh said. "But I am pretty sick of everyone accusing me of destroying buildings and not caring about Tokyo and s*** like that."_

" _We've already donated a sizeable amount to the reconstruction," Kaioh Michiru added. "Which the press has not noticed and the government hasn't pointed out. But I've lived in this city for years. My home is here, my friends. So I don't think anyone can say I don't love it, and it hurts me as much as anyone to see enemies wrecking the buildings. I've donated money to this city and many of its charities almost as often as I've risked my life for it. I hope people can look past the rumours and fear-mongering being spread around and see that."_

 _Mizuno Ami said she's been trying to sympathize with the tone expressed in the press: "I was always the one at school who got the perfect scores on exams, and I was very shy, so I'm used to being called a freak. But it does hurt to see so many people turn away from us for one tough enemy, when we've had others in the past do as much or worse – one enemy leveled the Delta a few years ago. But… In one sense, people are right: no other enemy has done this sort of damage before. Most liked to remain out of sight, to hit isolated targets because they didn't want us to notice them. This enemy is brazen and adaptive, and we are still learning the best ways to counter it."_

 _For Hino Rei and Aino Minako, my question hit closer to home. Both have parents spearheading the Sailor Accountability Initiative, a movement seeking an investigation and legislation to determine (among other things): whether the senshi should be held responsible for the damages they cause, whether their ability to act in emergent situations should be regulated, and (its most extreme measure) whether they should be permitted to live amongst other people at all._

 _"I'm not... speaking to my parents right now, if that wasn't obvious," Aino said. "I don't know why my mother's spreading these rumors, I just wish I knew how to show her… everyone really, that we're not something they need to be afraid of, that we're not the problem!"  
And what of Hino's own father, whose voice in the legislature is well poised to push for action against the senshi?  
"All I think of the Sailor Accountability Initiative," Hino said "Is that… my father's never cared for me, and even less so now that I refuse to be a political prop for him. He's never loved me, and this new political stance is just a good excuse not to – what irritates me," Hino added, "is that other people are listening to him. I saved some of those reporters' lives two months ago and I nearly died doing it! So they don't get to talk to me about whether the enemy's my fault when I'm the only person able to fight it – and all the others before it too."_

 _It was a tough interview to listen to, as I imagine it was a tough interview for them to give, and I wanted to end it on a more positive note. I asked all of them what they dream of for their futures. Their responses were humbling and as varied as the young women themselves. Though one thing was consistent: despite the hype about their ability to use their powers to control the city, their roles as senshi did not factor into any of their dreams._

" _Someday," Kaioh Michiru told me with a sigh, "I am going to finish composing a symphony." When her partner, Tenoh Haruka pointed out that she's already composed three, Kaioh elaborated. "All three of those are dreadful. I can't say I've written one until I've finished one that satisfies me."_

 _And for Tenoh, the famous racer?_

" _I still haven't raced in America – that's on top of my list. But also," she smiled. "I've started thinking I'd like to coach, settle down, just… raise a family."_

" _Me too!" Kino Makoto added. "But first I've got to save up some money. I want to buy the building the bakery's in – oh! Can I do a plug for the bakery here? Is that allowed? Anyways its Kino's: Chiyoda, District 2, Block 4, number 3."_

" _I think you just dream of that number now," Aino Minako joked._

 _The bakery itself is a dream realized for young Miss. Kino, and she has far bigger dreams for it than that._

" _When I own the building," she said. "I want to live in the apartment above the bakery… maybe open a flower shop next door. And then get married. And have a family. Yeah, that would be nice."_

" _All I want's to be a doctor," Mizuno Ami said. "It's not as romantic as Makoto's for sure… but I'd get to invent new cures and help people."_

" _All of you make mine sound so simple!" my daughter teased her friends. "I want to get married," she said. "And I'm going to get married." She got engaged two years ago and somehow, despite that, I still don't quite believe it. She's already planned that dream wedding she wants, including having each of her fellow senshi stand with her for the ceremony. "Nine Maids of Honor sounds good to me."_

 _And what of Hino Rei and Aino Minako?_

" _My grandfather's getting older," Hino told me. "I've loved helping him out at the shrine for a while. I want to be able to take over for him. I was going to go to school for it this year too. This enemy put that on hold for a while. But I will do it. I want to be a full priestess."_

 _Aino Minako took the longest time to answer. "I don't know what I dream of right now," she finally said. "All I've ever done is act, but I think I want something different now – All my friends keep telling me I have more than enough time to figure it out… I just have to work on believing them."_

 _What I found most surprising was the thoughtfulness that seemed inherent in all of their answers – not something I am used to in off-the-cuff remarks from teens and twenty-somethings. I think it shows that if their time as senshi has changed these young women at all, it is in the same way it has changed my Usagi. The senshi appreciate their lives and their dreams in a way most of their peers (who are filled with naive, youthful confidence in their own invincibility) simply cannot. And I, for one, appreciate them. I've covered many of the conflicts they've resolved and covered them before the day was saved, at times believing my words might be the only record of what happened in this city. I covered the riots caused by those energy-crazed daimons five years ago, and the meteor (MG 347) the size of Hokkaido that was poised to end the world before the Senshi destroyed it on its way into the atmosphere. I covered the Death Busters that leveled the Mugen Delta and the aliens that froze people as they walked in the streets. I covered the disappearances at the Dead Moon Circus and the mass-hypnosis and kidnappings of children from their beds. I even covered each of these young women's disappearances two years ago up until my daughter's, when she left with no other thought except to see her friends safely home: I've covered the Senshi's battles for years. The situation is different now, and their enemy is more frightening, but I do not understand how one can shrink away from the senshi in fear of that. In truth: I appreciate them that much more._

Michiru put the paper down and smiled. "He's even left out my crying episode from the middle there," she said. "Good man."

" _That_ scared me, to be honest," Haruka said as she came in from the kitchen with fresh juice for Michiru and a coffee for herself. She set them on the table and moved to stand behind Michiru's chair. She put her hands on her shoulders and, when Michiru looked up at her, kissed her forehead. "Is the crying going to happen again?"

"Probably," Setsuna chimed in. She was sitting across the table from them, nose buried in a book. She tapped her pen against it. "This says you're more likely to cry at several intervals over the next few months."

"She's taking notes," Michiru told Haruka. She shook her head and reached for her drink. "I've already read that book cover-to-cover, Setsuna."

"I've read it twice," Haruka added.

"Well, I don't want to rely on simple memorization," Setsuna said, and then directed an irritated look at the book. "This knows more about what'll happen to you in the next 29 weeks that _I_ do – I want to be prepared."

"Well," Michiru sipped her juice. "Then you should both be happy to know Dr. Mizuno's made time for me in two days at noon… if either of you are up for sneaking into a hospital unnoticed."

"Yes." "Easy," Setsuna and Haruka said at the same time.

"You told Ami's mother?" Setsuna asked with a smile.

"No – Ami and Ikuko told her." Michiru shook her head. "I tried to be mad at them. But really I'm just… relieved." She stared down into her juice. "This is still hard enough to wrap my head around, I hadn't even started thinking of a doctor I could trust."

"Well I'm glad Ami and Ikuko think ahead," Haruka said. She squeezed Michiru's shoulders. "Of course we'll go with you."

"Absolutely," Setsuna said, flipping a page in the book.

Michiru had yet to look up from her drink. "That's good…" Her voice trailed off, making Haruka and Setsuna frown. Setsuna closed her book, sharing a look with Haruka.

"Michiru?" Setsuna asked.

"It scares me a little," Michiru confessed quietly.

"Which part?" Haruka asked, glancing up as Setsuna rose from her seat and walked around the table to them.

"29 weeks…" Michiru whispered. "I have to keep her safe that entire time… when this enemy could be around the next corner."

"Well _we_ will keep the both of you safe from that," Setsuna said. She sat down on the arm of Michiru's chair and combed back her hair. "Let us do the protecting."

"But that annoys me," Michiru said, reaching for Haruka and Setsuna's hands. "Side-lining myself and making the two of you and the others pick up the slack?"

"Does this mean you've decided not to fight?" Haruka grinned.

"No," Michiru said with a definitive shake of her head. "No – what annoys me is that it makes sense to stand behind you, but I will fight as long as I have the transformation with which to do so." She looked up at them both. "Are we going to fight about that?"

"If it will change your mind," Haruka murmured.

"It won't."

"Then we'll save the argument for later," Setsuna told Michiru. She kissed the back of her hand. "Still scared?"

"Hmm…" Michiru smiled and looked between the two of them. She squeezed their hands. "Not quite so much."

"Good," Haruka said and moved around Michiru's chair. "By the way." Haruka cupped her face and leaned in to kiss Michiru properly. "You're glowing today."

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

Luna did not get home until quite late on May second, having spent the majority of the day monitoring the response to Kenji Tsukino's article. It had been a trying day for certain: in addition to the truly negative takes from several sources, she'd also filed away a whole thousand or so particularly concerning ones (most from social media) for detailed investigation, only to learn from Mina that these were being inflammatory for amusement's sake, and that the command center algorithms were as bad at these as they were at filtering satire. It would figure that the planet who's global digital community were obsessed with teasing cats with laser pointers would also have invented such a pointless and frustrating thing as an "internet troll".

Luna jumped over the gate into the Tsukinos' garden and noticed the kitchen light on. So Ikuko was still up, and perhaps Kenji as well. She wrinkled her nose. Usually, she preferred the thoughtful cat-door they'd installed on the front door, but not tonight. True, Ikuko and Kenji would welcome her home with dinner, which would have been delightful especially as Ikuko never thought twice about making her something fresh, but Luna decided, she could scavenge something for herself later. For as lovely as Ikuko was, Luna did not feel up to sitting through her questions – no matter how well meant or thoughtful – after a day of such little progress.

 _I just don't understand this press atmosphere_ , Luna thought as she hopped up onto the garden wall and made her way along until she could leap onto the roof. _Surely not all of them believe these things wholeheartedly, why indulge in all these… scaremongering rumors._

Senator Hino had come forward early in the morning to call Kenji Tsukino an unethical journalist, and to suggest in the next breath that perhaps Usagi had brainwashed him to write senshi-friendly propaganda. To be sure, several sources had come out with positive articles, changed their tone (and she'd even seen one of Motoki's sympathetic hashtags trending that afternoon) but negative press was still dominating their narrative.

Several publications and television programs were still running with the theory that the senshi and the sunspots were the same alien species and that the sunspots were here to arrest the senshi "fugitives." Luna had been trying all day not to think of how closely that spin resembled a doomsday prophecy and knew she was likely to have nightmares about just that scenario because of it. _I wish they'd never noticed the sunspots are made from crystals,_ Luna thought as she padded along the roof towards Usagi's window. She stepped up onto the windowsill, moved to pry the window up, and paused.

It hadn't looked like there was any light on from the ground, but there was a golden light illuminating Usagi. Her crescent mark was glowing, shining on the book she had in her hands.

Luna frowned as she pushed the window up and stepped hesitantly into the room. It was a bizarre sight to see Usagi at her desk, reading a book no less. Though as Luna jumped to the bed and padded silently across the covers, she was relieved to find Usagi was not reading. For the book in her hands was one of those she and Chibiusa had brought back from the Moon months ago, journals she had barely touched after opening one and realizing, quite quickly, that not a one of them knew how to read the coded writing.

"Usagi," Luna said softly. And Usagi looked up from the book. The golden light from her crescent mark made Luna squint and threw the blond's whole figure into dramatic shadow.

"Luna?" Usagi's eyes flicked to the window, and she frowned. The light from her crescent mark dimmed. "It was still light out when I started."

"It's 22:00 now," Luna whispered back. "Am I to assume you've learned to read that code since I've been gone?"

Usagi made a face and shook her head. "No," and she turned the green journal to show Luna the page she'd been gazing at. "But some of these have pictures…"

On the particular page was a grand palace, drawn in clumsy lines like the quite large characters of the coded writing around it (as though both had been rendered by an un-practiced hand).

Luna was about to tell Usagi that this was the royal palace on Jupiter, when the blond drew her attention to something else, pointing her finger to the top of the page. "But I can read the dates, they're not in code."

 _Pisces 302._

Usagi looked over at her desk and Luna followed her gaze, noticing for the first time that the journals and the ream of paper with Earth's old writing were being sorted. Usagi had started with the green journals it seemed – lining them up neatly on the desktop. Luna could not recall a time that the desk had been so full of books. It was an odd sight for certain.

"It probably won't help at all," Usagi sighed. "I just… needed to feel like I was doing something. Even if I can't read anything but the dates… Why is that?"

Luna jumped at the chance to answer – it was a rare day now where she had any useful advice to pass to the young Queen. "It was a common practice between the worlds," Luna said. "Messages would often get passed between couriers to whom coded words were undiscernable, but you'd still want them to know how long ago the message they were relaying had been written – after all it could be urgent. And you always wanted your records of anything to be clear to everyone even if the content was classified."

Usagi sighed and set the journal near the left-hand side of the desk, picking up the last of the green ones from the top of the stack. Luna saw her leaf through it, eyes searching for any sketches that had been stowed inside. She paused on a few and then hummed, sorting the journal in with the rest and reaching for the next of the documents found in her mother's private desk months before: the stack of parchment with the old Earth language on it.

"Don't bother with those," Luna said, hopping onto the desk. "Earth and Elysion used a much different dating system, you'll hardly be able to tell how old…"

"But they're written like the rest," Usagi said, pointing to the date in the corner. "Gemini 251, see."

Luna gaped, flicking her ears as she stared at the Sol system's common date system in the top right corner of the parchment. "But… but Earth _never_ followed the way the rest of us did things."

Usagi shrugged. "Well… this is old, isn't it? Maybe they did a long time ago." She turned the parchment to the back and, discovering it did not have any pictures, sorted it onto the far left corner of her desk. "Could you help me with these," she said, passing half the stack up to Luna.

They weren't in order; that was clear as Luna nosed through the first few pages. She saw Usagi pulling her stack apart, setting aside pages with pictures and putting those without into chronological order on her desk. Luna's tail twitched. "Perhaps… you should leave these in the order you found them, Usagi," Luna suggested. "I'm sure whatever order your mother put them in meant something."

"Yeah well, my mother isn't here anymore," Usagi said, throwing an irritated glance at Luna. "And _she_ never taught me to read her secret code or her old Earth languages. She never even told me she came from Earth, and she definitely never showed me any of these, so _I_ can't help it if I mess it up trying to organize them, now can I?"

Luna had nothing to say to that, she cocked her head to the side and watched Usagi sort through a few more pages in the ancient stack of paper, squinting as the light from her crescent mark briefly dimmed.

After a few more pages Usagi glanced up at Luna and her shoulders slumped. "Can I have a pen?" she asked.

Luna found one in an old mug behind her and tossed it to Usagi, watching her lean over the old Earth notes and write a number atop each, marking the original order she'd found them in. "There – happy?"

"I didn't realize you were angry with her," Luna whispered.

Usagi sighed, continuing to sort the old notes. "Neither did I," she said. "I just…" She sorted a few more pieces of parchment as she thought, and then explained: "everyone here's all angry with us because they don't know things," Usagi said. "They don't know our past, or why enemies attack the Earth, or where our powers come from – and _I_ don't know many of those things either." She gestured to the stack of black journals that remained unsorted in the corner of the desk, which Luna knew were in Queen Serenity's handwriting. "And my mother knew so much that she never told anyone, and I keep wondering whether she didn't know things that would help us now." Usagi sniffed, tears welling up in her eyes "With the press… and the enemy."

"She meant to tell you," Luna said, walking to the left corner of the desk and dragging a box of tissues forward so Usagi could reach them. "If she'd had time, she would have told you everything, Usagi." Luna felt as though she were being pulled in two directions as she tried to defend her old Queen while comforting her new one. "You have to remember – the Silver Crystal made her the most powerful person in the universe by many accounts. I'm sure you realize yourself that when you have that much power, it's easy to feel like you need to do everything yourself."

"Sometimes," Usagi sighed. "What's so special about the Silver Crystal anyways if it's just a Sailor Crystal?"

"I really don't know," Luna said. "Its origin is unknown. It was gifted to Queen Serenity by the gods at the very beginning of her reign."

Usagi looked down and pulled a chain out of her pajama top, the Silver Crystal's brooch was swinging on the end. "Gods..." she hummed, frowning at it.

"Well there do exist forces in the universe beyond our understanding," Luna rationalized.

"I know, but..." Usagi looked at Luna, her brow furrowed. "But sometimes I'm one of those forces... or Saturn, or Pluto..." Luna shivered as the brooch popped open and the room flooded with light. The Silver Crystal floated out. Usagi lifted it, letting it hover a few feet above her open palm. Its glow spread light like moonlight throughout the bedroom.

"I suppose so," Luna whispered.

"I just mean…" Usagi frowned up at the crystal. "If we're forces the universe doesn't understand, then... what did my mother mean by gods?"

"Well Queen Serenity never spoke of its origins," Luna amended. "This was just... well it was _written_ , Usagi."

Usagi frowned at her. "But... didn't she had to tell someone that for it to be written?"

Luna opened her mouth to answer and closed it, recalling the long hours spent pouring over the Sol system's history in the Moon Kingdom's library. How was it, as a researcher, she hadn't asked the same question herself?

Her young Queen sighed. The light of the Silver Crystal dimmed. "Never mind, I don't know what I'm getting at..." Usagi said, letting the crystal fall back into her palm. "Maybe that is true, and I'm being paranoid." Usagi closed her hand around the Silver Crystal. "It's just… she didn't just keep secrets, Luna: my mother _lied_ to me a lot."

"Only to protect you!"

"I know," Usagi assured her. "I just... she was so good at it. I wonder if she wasn't used to it – if she lied to lots of people about lots of things."

Luna stared thoughtfully at Usagi – reclining in her desk chair with the crystal in her hand – and Luna shivered as she recalled a scene much like it...

 _Queen Serenity sat at her desk high up in the observatory, the Silver Crystal and its crescent wand cradled in her hands as she spoke quietly to a tall figure in the magical mirror that hung on the wall beside her – the Plutonian Queen, Luna noted from the robes they wore._

 _The person whose shoulders she was resting across sighed, distracting her from Serenity's conversation._

 _"It makes me sad sometimes," the woman said, her low voice a whisper so the Plutonian Queen, and perhaps Serenity too, would not know others were eavesdropping._

 _"What does?" Luna asked._

 _The woman lifted her tan hand with the pale old scar across the back, and gestured to Serenity. "She used to be a dreadful liar – the worst in all the worlds – I could tell stories." She laughed quietly. "Her ears used to turn red at the slightest fib."_

 _"Well a Queen who can't lie makes a vulnerable Kingdom"_

 _"Oh don't quote Martian proverbs at me." The woman crossed her arms. "I want this stalemate over Sol done with," she complained. "She's gotten too good at this."_

Luna blinked and shook her head. She was still standing on the desk in Usagi's room and it was Usagi in the chair, in her pajamas, not a regal gown, and cradling the Silver Crystal alone (its original home, the crescent wand, long ago shattered).

Usagi was staring at her. "You alright Luna?"

"Yes," Luna said, "Usagi... your mother was at war," she explained as she reflected on the memory. "There were a lot of things she had to lie about." Luna nodded to the crystal. "Perhaps that was one of those secrets."

Usagi nodded and then looked to the papers that remained in her lap, and all the journals on the desk. "Do you think Pluto would let me go back there?" Usagi asked. "I could talk to her – I could _know_ if there was anything that would help us."

But Luna shook her head. "Even if she could bend the time travel laws like that, she existed in the Moon Kingdom, Usagi." Luna looked back to the pile of parchment Usagi'd asked her to sort. "Her past and future self – _especially_ her future self who has broken so many of her taboos – could not meet that way."

"…I know," Usagi said, pausing as she picked up a new piece of parchment. Instead of sorting it in with the rest, Luna saw Usagi put it off to the side. The advisor looked at it, and all her fur stood on end.

There were two pictures sketched across the center of the page – a drawing of a star with black ink bands wrapped around it, and the second drawing of an identical star: being eaten away by the mess of dark ink that had been colored onto the page.

"They look like what the others described in their visions," Usagi said, her gaze, like Luna's, lingering on the parchment. "Maybe, once we can read it, it'll be useful."

"Perhaps so…" Luna said quietly, turning to her own stack of parchment and rifling through it. She'd dismissed these old notes' when Usagi and Chibiusa had brought them home, but perhaps the notes and The Moon Kingdom really did have information that could help them.

 _And does that mean Queen Serenity knew we'd face this enemy?_ Luna thought. _Goodness, I thought Usagi was grasping at straws._ She did not see any more pictures in her parchment stack that stood out to her. Luna frowned. "I should know where these come from," she muttered, scanning through a few more. "I should _remember_." She frowned, staring hard at the parchment and trying to recall if she had ever seen it.

The Queen had been a collector of many histories and books, gathering them even from the most isolated corners of the Sol system. Some had been gifted, some hunted out of hidey-holes, and some, Luna recalled, had taken the most complex orchestrations of diplomacy to acquire. These notes must have been in the latter category if they had originated on Earth… _perhaps even more drastic measures_ than that, Luna considered as she sorted the pages for Usagi. They had a certain smell to them she found, one she vaguely remembered.

 _Like a cave…_ Luna thought and frowned. She recalled that smell… associated it with fire in fact.

 _The shockwave of magic that had made all her fur stiffen, the smell of smoke wafting in from the Balcony where Artemis stood, arms braced on the railing. The silver flash. The inferno off in the distance intensifying as thicker plumes of smoke billowed up into the noon sky…_

 _Three figures approaching on the wind: Uranus and Neptune with the Queen between them. Luna curled her hands tightly into Artemis' jacket as the two Guardians alighted on the balcony railing and the Queen slipped from between them, hanging her head as she collapsed onto the stone tiles._

" _My Queen!" Artemis and she kneeling close to her just as Uranus and Neptune did. The Queen looked at them._

" _Has that magic affected anyone?" She asked._

 _Neptune glanced at her mirror. "Not yet."_

" _Let's go make sure it doesn't," Uranus said. She looked at the Queen. "We'll be back soon."_

 _But Queen Serenity shook her head and held up her fist. Luna gasped. Serenity's hand was as burnt as the parchment pages grasped in it._

" _Guard Serenity," the Queen said. "I'll be fine. I have these to see too." She uncurled her hands as the two Guardians rushed away, into the palace. Both the Queen's hands were burnt, Luna saw, both had been protecting parchment pages._

" _Are these prophecies?" Artemis asked, lifting some of the delicate pieces of parchment._

 _"She burnt the rest," the Queen coughed. "This is all I have..." She unrolled the delicate pages with her reddened fingers. In the corner of one, Luna could see, was the burnt sketch of a crystal palace. "We've got too…"_

"Luna?"

Luna jerked her head up from the parchment she'd been staring at, the scrap of a memory nagging at her. "Sorry… I was trying to remember…" she looked through her own stack of parchment. "Do you see any burnt ones?"

"Uh?" Usagi shuffled through the papers remaining in her lap. "Well, I see some with stains all over them buuuuttt."

"Never mind," Luna sighed. "Just a memory," She went back to the parchment under her paws. "Here: let's finish sorting these like you wanted," she told Usagi. "And perhaps then I'll set up a conference with Helios and see if they're in a language he can read."

~ _AgeofAquarius~_

 _Michiru: Can you swing by the Orchestra Hall early today?_

Haruka was on the way to her car before she thought to text Michiru back. She was more than grateful for the excuse to leave early today. She'd gotten to test a new racecar – newer and faster. Then she'd found out they were reserving it for another driver. She was still plotting out how to challenge the man to a race while the owner of the car was watching as she wove her Ferrari through Tokyo's streets on her way to the orchestra hall. She laughed as she thought that plotting was certainly something Michiru could help with and pulled her car out onto the main road. _I hope when Michiru said to pick her up early, she meant right now._

When Haruka reached the Orchestra Hall, she could hear all the instruments playing. Something by Mozart, it sounded like. She slipped into the auditorium through the side door to wait for them to finish.

But Haruka frowned as she scanned the violin section. Michiru wasn't there.

Quietly, Haruka slipped out into the hallway. Maybe Michiru was in the green room. She made her way there, wondering if she still had morning sickness despite it being nearly 13:00.

The green room door was open when Haruka reached it, but Michiru wasn't there either. Her prized violin was in its case at her vanity. Haruka walked to it and lifted the case, noticing the crumpled newspaper on the floor under Michiru's chair. It was one of several newspapers around the room. Haruka also saw, as she turned to leave, the TV on in the corner by the door: a daytime show host was laughing with a man in a well-tailored suit – a man with gray peppered through his aqua hair.

Haruka'd only ever seen Michiru's parents in the news: glances caught just before the TV was turned off, or the articles folded up and slipped in with the recycling. And Haruka didn't take a long look at Mr. Kaioh now. Rather, she left the green room and the Orchestra Hall entirely, with Michiru's violin in hand. Once she was outside, Haruka closed her eyes, turned her ear to the sea breeze, and _listened._

 _Traffic, seagulls terrorizing the tourists, swearing, laughter, sniffling…_

Haruka focused on the last sound. The wind led her down the street, to an alley that let out onto the delivery service road behind the buildings. Guardrail blocked it off from the steep, rock slope down into the sea.

She spotted Michiru perched there, behind the Orchestra Hall. She was gazing out at the water. Haruka went to her.

"I'm here," she said as she came up beside Michiru. Haruka'd barely sat down when Michiru turned, grabbed for her shirt, and kissed her. Michiru's face was wet. When Haruka pulled away she caught a glimpse of Michiru's red face and the gleam of her tears in the sunlight.

Then Michiru pulled Haruka closer to her, gasping as she hid her face in Haruka's shoulder.

"How long were you waiting for me?" Haruka worried, wrapping her arms securely around Michiru.

"Not long."

Haruka sighed. It usually took her about twenty minutes to get here from the racetrack. "You could have called Setsuna," Haruka said. "She would have been here in a second."

She regretted asking when it made Michiru cry harder. "Do you think you're interchangeable?" Michiru gasped. "I needed you."

Haruka sighed. "Sorry," she murmured, kissing Michiru's hair. She listened and waited.

Finally, Michiru spoke. "I don't need them."

"No you don't," Haruka agreed.

"I don't want to be like them."

"I know."

"And I _don't_ miss them," Michiru insisted. She sniffed.

Haruka rubbed her back with an ear to the wind to make sure no one was coming. "All that's true," Haruka whispered. "But you can still be upset."

" _No,_ " Michiru protested, shaking her head.

"But it's alright to cry about –"

" _No!_ " Michiru sobbed as she protested this time, which turned into a frustrated sound and another bout of crying. _Is she crying now because she's still upset?_ Haruka wondered. She hugged Michiru more tightly and waited a while longer for her to explain.

"They don't get to upset me," Michiru finally said. "They're not worth it."

 _So I'm right about the reason…_ Haruka thought. _Not that that helps…_ Haruka had not witnessed the aftermath of an encounter with the Kaiohs since high school. She wished she'd taken a look at the crumpled article in the green room.

"So… well if this can't be because of your par – er – them." Haruka corrected herself quickly, afraid actually acknowledging the Kaiohs might make matters worse. "Then I guess..." she took a risk. "I guess you're only crying because you're pregnant."

There was a long pause during which Haruka was absolutely sure she was about to be exiled to the couch for the foreseeable forever.

Then Michiru sniffed. And nodded.

 _Thank God._ "Which... is my fault," Haruka reasoned, an idea came to her mind. She ran with it. "So then… then I guess _I_ made you cry. I'm _so_ sorry, Love."

Michiru let out a weak laugh and tightened her arms around Haruka.

"How can I make up for it?"

"You are."

Haruka smiled against Michiru's hair. "Let's get outa here," she said. "We'll go home, grab the bike."

"Go flying"

"Well if you want to fly," Haruka laughed. "Minako and Usagi are better than me."

"You know what I meant!" Michiru fumed, pulling away and slapping Haruka's arm.

Haruka grinned at her and took her handkerchief out of her pocket. "Okay?"

"Okay," Michiru said. She fixed her hair and took the handkerchief to wipe her face. She shook her head as she handed it back. "I suppose I could have asked Setsuna to get you," she said. "I wasn't thinking clearly."

"That's okay," Haruka told her. She stood, picked up the violin case, and held out her arm to Michiru. "Ready to go?"

Michiru nodded and linked arms with Haruka. She clung tightly to Haruka's arm as they made their way back to the car.

Setsuna forwarded Haruka the article that Michiru had crumpled up in the Orchestra Hall while they were zooming down the coast. And so did Mina as they made their way back.

 _ **ANOTHER SENSHI PARENT ENDORSES SENATOR HINO**_

 _Monday, May 5_ _th_

 _Following the buzz surrounding the senshi's interview on Thursday, two more of their parents have come forward in favour of the Sailor Accountability Initiative._

 _Kaioh Tatsuo and his wife have been unsure of the senshi for several years, ever since their daughter Kaioh Michiru cut all ties with them at barely 16 years of age._

" _I consider myself a tolerant man," Kaioh explained. "I lived on my own for a time as a teenager – and it helped me so much to put my youthful rebelliousness into perspective. And even if she was far more childish, I thought that was working with Michiru. We sent her to one of the best schools in Tokyo. We paid all her expenses. Before her 16_ _th_ _birthday, she was talking about moving home, enrolling the prep school her mother attended, And then suddenly she's moved out of the apartment we'd rented for her, she's got a different cell phone, I tell you it was the strangest thing. It was certainly not behaviour I expected from my daughter. We were stunned, both of us. And my younger daughter, it was the hardest thing to explain to her when my wife and I had no explanation ourselves."_

 _The only clues that something was affecting his eldest child, Mr. Kaioh said, were nightmares that began some time before she cut ties with them._

" _I don't know when they started, but each time she was home from Tokyo on a school holiday she would get them. We even sent her to see someone about it, to get a prescription and all that. We thought it was stress. But she became more and more resistant to talking about them."_

 _Mr. Kaioh said Senator Hino, and Mr. and Mrs. Aino sharing similar stories convinced him that the Sailor Accountability Initiative was worth investing in._

" _Do I know if they're correct that the senshi are alien? Or possessing our children? No, I can't know that. No one can know that. But that's why we've got to investigate and get some answers. Because if it's true: then that may mean I can get back the daughter I should have had."_

 _That's why the Kaiohs are sponsoring an event on May 13_ _th_ _: to promote Senator Hino's Initiative. It'll be a public event, with the end goal of raising funds for investigating theories pertaining to the senshi's origins and goals – and those of their enemies as well._

 _Mr. Kaioh also wanted to say that the donations made by his family and corporation to charity and relief efforts that happen to clean up after the senshi are not in any way an endorsement of their actions and are entirely separate from the donations made by Kaioh Michiru._

The article prompted an emergency meeting that night, so emergent that Ami joined them in Lunar Command via webcam. Her furrowed brow and tight-lipped expression (enlarged to fill one of the five large computer screens) was the first thing Chibiusa saw when she descended the stairs with Luna.

"Mr. Hino and the others can't really do anything that bad can they?" Chibiusa asked.

"No," Luna assured her. "But they could certainly produce a lot of minor problems – and those can turn into a big problem, one we'd rather not deal with since our focus should be on the enemy." She hopped down from Chibiusa's shoulder once they reached the bottom of the stairs and dashed to the computer console, standing with Artemis to address the room.

The Initiative event was going to be held in one of the largest hotels in Tokyo – with room for hundreds of people to attend.

"Another advertisement says there'll be some speakers during the gathering," Artemis told them. "So we think they're not only trying to draw in money and power, but more people as a base of support."

"We need to see what it's about," Minako decided, "And see who's involved."

"There's a simple solution to that," Setsuna announced. "It's a public event. I'll go."

It was also an opportunity, they realized, to find out the true origin of people's ire. With so many Initiative supporters in one place, it would be easy to see if there was negative energy from the sunspots surrounding them.

"I can see it!" Hotaru volunteered, leaping at the chance to do something useful. "I can go with Mama-Suna. I could see if there's any of the sunspots' energy and no one would look twice at me."

"If my mother's there, she will," Mina warned her. "She knows you're a senshi. If she sees you there, I doubt she's gonna keep her word to your Dad."

"Yeah, but she's never _seen_ me," Hotaru pointed out. "If I go with Mama-Suna, she'd never suspect."

Her parents had been less than enthusiastic, but neither could they dismiss the benefits of her suggestion.

"If your father agrees…" Michiru decided as she looked to Haruka and Setsuna to see if they objected. "Then, I suppose… it's a good idea."

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

It was a hectic week, running tests of an expanded detection system and exploring ways to monitor sunspots forming within Earth's core took up the bulk of Ami's time, the rest went to the six courses she had – two of which had Mid-terms the following week. It was a busy time throughout the University. She did not even see Daiki outside their shared classes. That made it an even more lonely week, given he had become her sole companionship on a campus where most people reactions to her were to stop and stare or avert their eyes and rush away.

Somehow, though, in stolen ten and fifteen-minute intervals, Ami carved out time at ever chance she could, to dig deeper into the file on the past Sailor Mercurys. She realized as soon as she had the chance to read the Lunarian file all the way through that it _had_ been a piece of an encyclopedia, and was one of several such files recovered in the damaged hard-drive data. This file, she learned, was specifically a record of every attack and ability ever used by a Sailor of her world.

The list of those attacks sat on her desk for five days. Every spare moment she had, she glanced at it, practiced the words, even tried to copy the motions she saw demonstrated in the ancient videos.

 _Aegis – Mercury 3 – Created a spherical shield apprx area. 78.8 million km._

 _*(Sol) Aqua Rhapsody – Mercury 3 – combination attack. Merged with shield. Disrupted large, atmospheric threat._ _Much bigger than mine._

 _Blizzard Bombard (Lun. Translation) – Mercury 3 – conjured blizzard to mask attack direction. Varying sized snowballs hurled at enemy._

 _(Unk.) Blizzard attack – Mercury 1 – Created contained blizzard that shredded opponents. Caused rainbow of light (potentially refracting sunlight to produce melting effect…)_

 _Glacial Sleep (Lun. Translation) – Mercury 2 – covered undetermined area in a thick coat of snow (one case transformed lava into said snow)_

Ami's list went on another page and a half and included several things these Mercurys had been able to do without transforming, such as make the Mercury sigil on their foreheads glow.

 _Obviously, that will have to wait until I get my full powers back,_ Ami'd reasoned. _But the others…_ She pulled the list out from beneath her keyboard each time she paused during an assignment, and even put off exploring more of the hard-drive data in favor of re-watching the Mercury attack videos well into the morning hours.

She waited for the perfect time, when a thunderstorm rolled through Juuban at 1:00 in the morning on the 10th. There'd be no one awake, and plenty of rain to mask her work.

Sailor Mercury jumped up from her studio apartment window and onto the roof of the complex as the heavy rain began to pelt downwards, obscuring visibility in all directions. She took a deep, centering breath as the first rumble of thunder rolled overhead.

Her hands had practiced the motions in her rooms for the past five days. She was ready. She could do it.

"Mercury… Blizzard BOMBARD!" She cried, throwing both hands out in front of her.

Her shout rang in her ears, along with the pounding rain, which continued to pour unhindered over her outstretched hands.

 _Well… I suppose that was a final attack form. Maybe the earlier one…_

"Flurries _FLY_ "

Nothing still.

"Maybe our styles are incompatible," Sailor Mercury pouted. She tried an attack from Mercury 2 next. Nothing. She even tried to figure out words that might accompany the mysterious attack from Mercury 1, an effort which lasted three tries and left her feeling more ridiculous than before.

And the heaviest rain was dissipating. Mercury heard a group of students whoop in the distance and knew that all those who'd been reckless enough to go out in the downpour would be able to see her soon. She _really_ didn't need reporters finding out which apartment building was hers.

 _One more_ , Mercury decided. She'd tried only attacks that related to ice and water so far, but there was one above all the others she wanted to use _desperately_. _Maybe that means I'm connected enough to it that it'll work_. She squared her feet and bowed her head, focusing on the ice-cold power that surged through her, that concentrated in her chest each time she transformed. Sailor Mercury took a deep breath and spanned her hands wide. " _Aegis!"_

She gasped. There was a flash! Small, white. It stretched between her hands, waivered, and vanished " _Aegis!_ " she tried again.

But this time the light did not appear.

Mercury sighed, transforming back into Ami and turning her head upwards, eyes closed. She let the cool spring rain pour over her face as the thunder echoed back to her, quieting as the storm raced away from Tokyo.

 _Maybe I imagined it,_ Ami thought as her shoulders sagged. The rain had, by now, soaked through her jeans. _Maybe I do have to wait until I get Athena's memories again._ She looked down at her hands. No… she'd definitely _seen_ something.

"I am perfectly capable," Ami whispered to herself. "And it did work… for a second."

 _I could do more research into the hard-drive tonight!_ Ami thought, but groaned, throwing the thought away nearly as soon as she'd thought it.

She had, of all things, an Organic Chemistry exam later in the morning.

She decided she would study that for an hour, and then turn in for a few hours of rest.

Before moved to climb down from the roof though, Ami allowed herself another five minutes to stand under the rain, letting the cool droplets run across her face and hands, feeling in those moments the full weight of her duty to the scouts, the demands of her university, her lingering fears that Daiki might realize how dreadful she was at dating and move on, and the ever-present need to prove to her mother, her friends and more and more herself, that she _could_ do this. That she was strong enough to do this.

Ami sighed as the rain washed over her, imagining that the rivers of water droplets could wash the stress away with them.

~ _AgeofAquarius~_

Hotaru spent every day of the week before to the Initiative event working her way up to asking her father's permission. Souichi Tomoe fell somewhere between Haruka and Setsuna on Hotaru's scale of how easy it was to get her parents to agree to something. (And he was much worse than Setsuna at predicting when she was preparing to ask). Because of that, her plan worked flawlessly.

Hotaru didn't ask Souichi whether she could go with Setsuna to the event until three days before. Instead, she devoted the bulk of the week to being on her best behavior: she woke up early to do her chores, did all her homework in time to help with dinner, and begged Souichi for stories about her mother. Her efforts put him in such a good mood that when Hotaru asked Saturday during dessert, talking points written on her palm, her father's eventual decision was: "I'll sleep on it." Which, true to experience, had turned into a reluctant "yes," by the time Hotaru asked again Sunday at breakfast.

"I sorta didn't tell him it was to see if the enemy was affecting people," Hotaru confessed to Kara Aino at lunch Monday, which they ate in their usual spot atop Mugen's roof. "But that doesn't matter. It's still not a battle, which is all he's worried about."

"Wait," Kara said, sandwich halfway to her mouth. "But _Mom's_ making me go… do you think people are really possessed? Will I be infected?"

Hotaru shrugged. "I don't know." Then she giggled. "But if you're suddenly angry with me, I guess we'll know why."

Kara didn't laugh though. "What if I out you to the newspapers," she worried and put down her lunch. "And I'm not good at faking sick – there's no way I can stay home." She made a face. "Unless we go find someone who is sick and get them to sneeze on me."

"I don't think you should have to do that." Hotaru wrinkled her nose and frowned. "But your parents work on the Initiative…" she raised an eyebrow at Kara. "Wouldn't you… already be infected?"

"I'm still not taking chances," Kara insisted. She furrowed her eyebrows thinking, and gasped when an idea came to her. She looked up from her sandwich. "Can I investigate with you?"

"What?"

"Well… Mom won't mind me hanging out with someone else my age. I could go around the event with you, and that way the negative energy or whatever wouldn't get to me right?

Hotaru raised her eyebrows. "I'm not an _evil-repellent!_ "

"How do you know? Oh!" Kara's eyes widened. "And I can help you do your mission!" She squealed. "I could be like Mina!"

She certainly _looked_ like Mina – she had the same gleam in her blue eyes that Mina got when she became obsessed with an idea. Hotaru hoped Kara didn't pursue her own obsessions as dramatically as her sister or the two of them were going to stand out among all the Initiative supporters fast.

"As long as you can act casual better than Mina," Hotaru said. "It's just an observing mission… it should be easy." She frowned. "But it'd be easier if we knew more details about it before tomorrow."

"Oh! I know that stuff!" Kara said, "I've been helping Mom with the planning…"

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

Tuesday the thirteenth of May, a set of lavender doors swung open into an empty third-floor hallway in Tokyo's second largest hotel. Two figures stepped out dressed for a formal affair: a tall, green-haired woman in a sleek, burgundy dress, and a black-haired girl, half as tall, in the powder blue suit she'd worn to match her Papa's last New Years.

"Do you think all of them will be influenced by the sunspots?" Hotaru asked. "I kind of hope so." The alternative, that all the anger towards them was ordinary and human was not one she wanted to contemplate at all – it just didn't make sense.

"It is likely not affecting everyone in the crowd," Setsuna told Hotaru. "Many of these people may be getting involved for the first time. This movement's been building since the senshi's identities were leaked."

"But the sunspots in the Earth are definitely affecting them, right?" Hotaru said.

"I think we've established there is some connection," Setsuna told her. "Your job is to see how much of one there is, and whether it is people's emotions affecting the sunspots activity or the other way around." They stopped in front of the elevator and Setsuna pressed a button. "We may want to get you close to some people who've been involved since the beginning. They'll give us the best understanding of where this anger's coming from." The elevator went up three floors and they emerged in a hallway next to two bathrooms – as well as the open doors into the conference hall. They walked inside, bypassing the guest sign-in that had been in the lobby entirely.

Setsuna navigated the two of them along the walls, weaving between tables with lace coverings and flower centerpieces where people would be sitting down later to listen to speeches. Setsuna was still thinking aloud of how to get Hotaru to the Initiative's key promoters. "Preferably while everyone here is still mingling – ah, perfect." Setsuna looked down at Hotaru. "I hope you've been practicing your acting," she said with a mischievous smirk. She led Hotaru into the thickest part of the crowds, weaving their way through without once bumping into anyone: Setsuna simply stepped into spaces the moment another attendee moved even slightly to the side. As they walked a winding path through the attendees, Hotaru looked all around trying to see whom they were going to meet.

Their path was such that she didn't see the people Setsuna was moving towards until they'd slipped into a tight circle with them. Hotaru caught Kara Aino's eye across the circle as her friend stared at her, and then glanced at the tall man to her left. He was wearing a tailored black suit that matched the sleek black of his thinning hair, and Hotaru knew his name immediately as he noticed her. From behind his wire glasses, he stared at her and Setsuna with shrewd, purple eyes.

"Senator Hino," Setsuna greeted him with a respectful demeanor that Hotaru did her best to match, for him and then for Hikari and Hideki Aino. All of them, Hotaru noted, had negative energy around them, though (she was disappointed to see) it was only the normal, human kind.

"It's an honour to meet you," Setsuna was saying to the Senator. "I was hoping I'd get the opportunity."

"A pleasure," Senator Hino said. "And you are…"  
"Dr. Setsuna Meioh," Setsuna introduced herself. "Ph.D. in Astrophysics," she gestured to Hotaru. "This is my daughter, Rini."

"Very nice to meet you," Hotaru said. And across from her, she saw Kara Aino do her best to stifle her giggles. Hotaru greeted her formally too, and added: "I didn't know you'd be here!" As though they hadn't discussed just this that afternoon.

"Rini was just telling me she was afraid she'd be the youngest here," Setsuna said. "Is this your daughter?" she asked the Ainos.

"Yes – Kara stop slouching," Hikari Aino nagged. She smiled at Hotaru. "You know my daughter?"

"Yes, sorry," Hotaru said. "I believe she goes to Mugen Academy – I'm in class three."

"How wonderful – you see Kara," Hikari said. "I told you other students would be accompanying their parents."

"I thought it would be quite educational," Setsuna said.

"And what sort of research do you do?" Senator Hino asked Setsuna. "I've been looking to make more connections in the Astrophysics community – I think there's lots of potential for answers there."

"Well I'd like to investigate how the enemy in the recent battle generated their energy blasts," Setsuna said. "Given that they seem not to have any fuel source…"

"Can we go walk around?" Kara whispered to her parents.

"I suppose so," Hikari Aino agreed, barely glancing at Hotaru. "But be in your seat in time for the speeches – early. I am speaking second. You and your father are going to stand with me.

"Okay!" Kara told her, grabbing Hotaru's sleeve and pulling her away into the crowds before Hikari changed her mind. They had to push and duck through the tight groups without Setsuna to help navigate. Finally, they squeezed through the edge of the crowd and rushed to one of the empty tables waiting along the side of the room.

"So… Rini?" Kara giggled. "My mom's gonna want to invite you over, she keeps nagging me to make more friends."  
"That would be interesting," Hotaru muttered. "And Mama-Suna wasn't exactly going to use my real name, was she?"

"She used hers."

"Cause…" Hotaru frowned, straining to see Setsuna in the crowds. It looked like she was still talking to Senator Hino. "Maybe she want's to work with him?"

" _Why?_ "

"I don't know… maybe so she can stop him from finding anything we don't want."

"Why?" Kara asked. "I thought you didn't have anything to hide?"

"We don't – but he'd find a way to make everything bad, wouldn't he?" Hotaru narrowed her eyes, double-checking the energy around Senator Hino and the Ainos. No, she hadn't missed anything. "Still no sunspots," she muttered.

"Still no what? Oh wait, hold on!" Kara said, and she opened the small, pink purse that was slung over her shoulder, fishing out a pen and a notebook with a large colorful sticker splashed across the cover. "Okay – Mission notes ready to record!" Kara grinned. "What do I need to do?"

Hotaru tried very hard not to smirk and just about succeeded. "Well first of all…" she said, looking at Kara's notebook. "I think you should hide that _Sailor V_ sticker on the front."

Kara turned the notebook over and flushed, scrambling to fold it so the sticker wasn't visible. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Hotaru said, scanning around the ballroom. "Okay… first."

"Wait," Kara stopped her again. "Are my parents possessed by the bad energy?"

"No," Hotaru assured her. "They're all full of negative energy… but it's the kind humans make. Not the kind other things make."

Kara sighed and then frowned again. "And…me?"

Hotaru crossed her arms. "What do you think?"

Kara tapped her chin and shrugged, scribbling in her notebook. "Kara… not possessed," she muttered. "Mom and Dad… ne-ga-tive- _human_ energy…"

Hotaru looked around. There were already hundreds of people chatting and mingling around the room. "Let's… not look at everyone," she told Kara. "Just…" What had Mama-Suna said? "Just the people who've been working with your parents on this the longest."

"You mean all the people they've had over for dinner recently?" Kara asked. "Yeah… there's a lot of them here." She tucked her pen into her ponytail and held her notebook close. "Come on!"

Hotaru let Kara lead her around the crowded room, getting just close enough to specific people Kara knew in the crowds for Hotaru to get a read on their energy. She tried to catch their eyes as often as possible – as much because it helped her read their energy faster as because it made most people nervous. Normally she felt bad making people nervous, tonight not so much.

She was glad that Kara was there to do most of the talking to people and all of the navigating because the more they moved around in the crowded room and the more people she got a good read on, the more frustrated Hotaru became. While most people here had little to no negative energy around them, the ones closest to the initiative _only_ had the normal kind of negative energy Hotaru was used to seeing on people who'd got stuck in bad traffic, or had a miserable day at school.

 _But there has to be a connection to the sunspots!_ Hotaru thought, accidentally bumping into someone. The room had filled up even more since she and Setsuna'd arrived.

"Are you mad or thinking?" Kara asked as Hotaru stormed out of the crowds.

"Thinking," Hotaru muttered back. She saw a tall plant against the wall and headed for it, ducking behind the thick, green ferns.

Kara ducked behind them too. "Isn't it… good." She checked her list again. "No one who's making the Initiative is possessed."

"Yeah," Hotaru sighed. "But… but our enemy has to be affecting them _somehow_." She bit her lip.

"Well… what about all the new people?"

"Mama-Suna already said it's probably not affecting them much." Hotaru sank down against the wall with a glum look on her face and stared at her polished white dress shoes. "Why's everyone so _angry_."

"You can tell they're angry?" Kara said. "I thought only Mina could do that."

Hotaru shrugged. "I can't really…but it's more common than other negative feelings… and just… looks different."

"Why?" Kara asked. "Do the angry people look red?"

 _Red?_ "No," Hotaru raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't see energy as colors."

"Then… but then how do you see it?" Kara frowned. "How's anger easier to see than anything else?"

Hotaru made a face but took the opportunity to explain anyway, rather than go on a person-by-person search for anyone here whose anger she could blame on the enemy.

She closed her eyes to focus more – how to _explain_ this – and paused.

She'd been so focused on individuals, on trying to stare hard enough at particular people to know where all their negative feelings were coming from, that she hadn't once tried to shut everything else out and focus on the room as a whole.

Hotaru stood up behind the plant without opening her eyes, startling Kara as she turned her head up.

"You can see without _looking_?" Kara asked.

Hotaru nodded. "Up there." She snapped her eyes open, glaring at the brightly lit ceiling. "There are angry people here generating their own negative energy," she told Kara. "But there's energy like the sunspots all around." She realized something. "And I didn't notice at the beginning because it wasn't here earlier!"

"What's that mean?" Kara asked.

"It means…"

 _We know there is a correlation,_ Mama-Suna had said. Hotaru grinned. She had found it. It was not exactly what she'd hoped for, but still. "I think all the people who are angry being in one place is making other kinds of dark energy grow," Hotaru whispered to Kara. "So… so people are still angry," _but!_ "But if the sunspots regroup faster or… or stronger then that'll be their fault!" She closed her eyes again to see. _Yes_ : the mass of dark energy feeding off the room had even grown a little in the past few minutes. "It's like a huge cloud over the whole crowd," she tried to explain to Kara. "Normal negative energy from people's emotions always stays near…" _Near them_ , Hotaru directed her attention to the whole crowd of people in the room. _Oh…_

It wasn't just the sunspots energy growing all around them – the people's negative feelings had grown too – had spread even to some curiosity seekers who'd only come to the Initiative event for free food. _The energies are building off each other!_ Hotaru realized. _I need to get Mama._

"Where's Mama-Suna?" Hotaru wondered. She saw Senator Hino near the stage where speeches would be held, but her Mama was no longer talking to him.

"Uh…" Kara and she both moved out from behind the plant, standing on their toes. Kara pointed. "She's in the same spot," Kara said. "She's just… talking to someone else."

Hotaru peered at Mama-Suna, who was tall enough that she could see her eyes over the crowds. She looked really serious. _Who's that?_ Hotaru thought to her.

" _Not an enemy and no one important,"_ Mama-Suna replied quickly. " _They're starting a few speeches soon – you should stand close to the door on the left side, you'll have a good view of the whole room."_

Hotaru frowned. "When do the speeches start?" she asked Kara.

"Uhh." Kara fumbled with her small, pink clutch bag to check her phone. "Not for 15 minutes."

The left-side doors were in the back with no crowds obstructing them. _I can get there in two minutes,_ Hotaru thought. _And Mama knows it!_

Which meant there was someone she didn't want Hotaru near.

 _I won't talk to them,_ Hotaru reasoned. _I'll just get close enough to see who they are._

"Come on," Hotaru said, dragging Kara along behind her. She led them into the thickest part of the crowd and hoped Mama-Suna wouldn't notice her approach.

"What are we doing?" Kara asked.

"I want to see who she's talking to," Hotaru said. She was having trouble the closer she got. It seemed like there were a lot of people around listening.

" _I personally think you're right,"_ Hotaru heard as they got close enough ("That's my mom!" Kara whispered). " _It's got to be possession."_

"Well the alien theory's not a bad one – the press loves it," another woman responded, letting out an elegant laugh. "But you notice not even Hino will say whether he thinks it's plausible, and we all know that's a politician's way of saying they don't agree."

The group of them laughed again. Hotaru could see Mama-Suna now, putting on her best false smile. Hotaru focused on the lady who was laughing. The negative emotions around her were as high as around Senator Hino or the Ainos, the man on her far side as well.

"But I know she can't be an alien," the woman continued. "I feel a bit more confident about it knowing the rest of you agree. True, the teenage rebellion got positively unacceptable, but I think I'd know if my own daughter was a Martian or something."

The woman laughed again and Hotaru froze a few feet from the group, eyes wide. She was familiar with that laugh – a warmer, more genuine version of it, but there was no mistaking the similarity...

"And how are you hoping to investigate whether they're possessed, Mrs. Kaioh?" Setsuna asked coolly.

"Well I wouldn't expect it to have anything to do with Astrophysics, but I've spoken to several well-regarded researchers tonight – we're offering a generous grant whether the Initiative goes forward in the legislature or not – and I have several candidates who've explained their theories – what was your favorite, Dear?" Mrs. Kaioh asked, turning to her husband.

Hotaru traded a look with Kara and crept closer, trying to move behind Mama-Suna so there was less chance she would be caught. She was probably already caught, Hotaru reasoned. But from the way Mama-Suna had her hands in tight fists behind her back, perhaps she had more important things to worry about than Hotaru eavesdropping.

"Are you saying you would welcome her back?" Hikari Aino asked. "If there were a way to make her normal again?"

"And however would you deal with the enemies they fight?" Setsuna interrupted.

The man beside Mrs. Kaioh (Hotaru gaped at his graying aqua hair) appeared entirely unfazed. "Why we would increase the powers of our Defense forces and have them manage it of course – at least until the accursed things realized there were no longer Senshi about. Then they'd move on. But back to your question," he said to Hikari. "Yes if she is being possessed by this magical… being and there's a way to stop that, I'd welcome her back with open arms. She was a very promising girl – excellent head for business."

"And what about your daughter?" Mrs. Kaioh asked Hikari and Hideki.

"Well," Hideki Aino began. "I'd certainly like it."

"No," Hikari said.

Beside Hotaru, Kara gasped.

"Well, we have Kara to think about, don't we. And she has such a promising future. Even if Minako were to go back to normal (whatever that was) I just don't think I'd trust her right away, would I? I'd need to see she really was herself again. I wouldn't want her around Kara before that. It's a wonder she hasn't had a more negative impact on her already."

"I completely understand…" Mr. Kaioh began saying. But Hotaru did not hear the rest, distracted by the sound of a notebook and pen hitting the floor. She spun around.

Kara was scrambling away through the crowd, and her notebook had fallen in the middle of another group of people. Hotaru dove for it, giving a hasty apology as she knocked into someone. Then she chased after her friend.

When she had pushed out of the crowds, Hotaru saw Kara bolting towards a set of balcony doors at the back of the room and ran after her, weaving through the tables and chairs along the side of the room where many people had already sat down.

"Kara!" she gasped when she bolted out onto the balcony.

Kara was gazing down at the street, head pillowed on her arms as she leaned on the balcony's marble wall. "I thought the whole point of this was that Mom would let Mina come home," Kara blubbered. Tears were already rolling down her cheeks. "But now she wants to what? Just punish her for… for what, not listening?"

"And for choosing things your Mom didn't want," Hotaru added.

"Yeah!" Kara said. "Are you sure Mom's not possessed?"

Hotaru sighed. "Yep," she looked up at the stars. "She's completely herself."

"And what did she mean bad influence?" Kara mumbled. "Mina's great."

"Excuse me," a girl's voice interrupted. Hotaru and Kara both jumped and turned towards the doorway, where a short, slim figure in a dress was standing just beyond the reach of the balcony lights. "It's not time to be outside right now."

"Who're you?" Hotaru snapped.

The girl made a disapproving sound and stepped out into the light: it brought out green highlights in her aqua hair (which fell in an elaborate braid across her shoulder) and made the small gems on her purple dress glitter. Hotaru tried not to stare as the girl approached and introduced herself. "Nori Kaioh," she informed them in a prim voice.

She was taller than Hotaru close up, but not so much from her age as from the small heels on her feet. (Hotaru had worn heels once when she'd taken a pair from Michiru's closet. She'd decided quickly that she was never wearing a pair again). Nori only looked about their age.

"And I believe you're the Ainos' daughter," Nori said to Kara. "I was hoping I would see you tonight – you're seated with us during the speeches you know – they're starting in five minutes. I was going around making sure everyone took their seats."

"We'll be in, in a minute," Hotaru said. "Kara just needs to,"

"To collect herself of course," Nori realized when she noticed how red Kara's face was. "I can sympathize, as no one else can, really." She smiled at Kara. "I guess we have a lot in common."

Hotaru narrowed her eyes. Nori was full of negative emotions just like a lot of the adults at the event. "What… exactly do _you_ have in common?"

"Well isn't that obvious?" Nori said, standing a little taller in her heels so she could look down at Hotaru. "I'm sorry, I believe you forgot to introduce yourself."

Hotaru blanched for a moment on the alias Mama-Suna had used. "Rini," she said.

"Rini what?"

"Rini… Meioh."

"Meioh," Nori tipped her head to the side as she looked at Hotaru. "I've never heard of your family before. Where are they from?"

"They… travel a lot," Hotaru said, glancing inside as a round of applause started.

"Hmm," Nori raised her eyebrows and turned her attention back to Kara. "Well anyways, we really should go inside… but I've been wanting to talk to you all night. I'm sure mum will understand. Here," she took a lacy handkerchief out of the purple clutch bag she carried and passed it to Kara. "I know it's hard cause she's only just run off – but everything will be a lot better eventually and they'll stop trying to get her back."

"Huh?" Hotaru and Kara frowned.

"Your Mum and Dad." Nori rolled her eyes. "They're like mine – all hoping Michiru's just been possessed by magic this whole time. I hope they're wrong."

"They are," Kara sniffed. "I want Mina to come back."

Nori stared at her. " _Why?"_

"Cause… cause Mina's my sister." Kara frowned. "Isn't… Michiru yours?"

"Unfortunately," Kara shook her head. "Daddy hasn't written her out of the will yet. Mum was finally talking him around to it before all of this Initiative business started up. _Now_ all they talk about is how she's possessed and they can un-possess her, and she can come back and be perfect all over again." Nori scowled. "She doesn't deserve it."

"As if she'd even want to come back," Hotaru muttered, her hands in fists. She was starting to realize why Michiru and Haruka had never answered her naïve questions about their Moms and Dads.

Nori thankfully hadn't heard her. "Why do you want Mina to come back?" Nori asked Kara. "All they do is wreck things and get on the news and bring all sorts of bad things to Earth."

"No!" Kara said. "That's wrong." She looked at Hotaru. "I don't care what our parents think. Mina's just a normal person who has to fight bad things."

Nori Kaioh huffed, her hands turned into fists curled as tightly as Hotaru's. "I hope not!" she snapped. "I hope they're aliens – then we could explain how Michiru ran away and stole Daddy's money and _they'd_ stop complaining about what a shame it is and stop saying how perfect she was at everything." She looked at Kara. "Maybe you don't care cause your sister isn't all over the tabloids with her… grease monkey friend. But mine is embarrassing!"

"Shut up," Hotaru glared at Nori.

"No! Listen," Nori said to Kara. "You shouldn't miss her. I guess I understand why you do cause your sister's only been a media scandal for a few months, but eventually you'll see it'll be better if she's not around. Mina's the star in the family, right? If she's gone, your parents will let you be the favorite. Don't you want that?"

"No," Kara said, shifting closer to Hotaru as Nori's cool demeanor broke down into an angry glare. "I want them to let Mina come home."

"Ugh!" Nori put her palm over her face. "Never mind – I thought I'd have someone to commiserate with." She shook her head. "Will _I_ hope they prove they're all aliens – then we can send them away and _I'll_ get the Stradivarius, and no one will talk about how perfect Michiru was anymore!"

"They won't prove anything," Hotaru scowled at Nori, feeling as though the temperature had suddenly dropped to freezing. "And they won't send any of them away."

"Oh I hardly think you'd know," Nori said, moving to block them as Hotaru made to drag Kara back into the hotel.

Hotaru glared at Nori. The lights in the big conference room flickered.

"I don't understand!" Nori continued. It seemed she would not rest until Kara agreed with her. "Why do you want them back? First, they're just embarrassing and now they've got weird powers that attract demons and destroy buildings!"

"Move," Hotaru ordered Nori. She was shaking. The lights around them flickered again.

"Not until I understand!" Nori snapped. "Why do you even _want_ a sister like them they're such _freaks_!"

" _SHUT UP!"_ Hotaru shouted and froze as she felt her magic flared up.

The lights inside the Hotel conference room exploded. People screamed as the glass lights shattered and shot down into the crowd.

Nori whirled around. "Mummy!" she called.

"Hotaru?" Kara whispered. Hotaru barely heard her. She backed away from both girls, staring into the dark room where she could hear chairs and tables being knocked over as people scrambled for the exits.

"Hotaru!" Kara said again, walking towards her as Hotaru continued to back up, into the edge of the balcony.

Nori whirled back around to stare at them. Her blue eyes widened "You're a freak too…" she realized, backing away towards the dark hotel. "M-m- _mum!"_

As soon as she'd run into the room, Hotaru transformed, jumping up onto the railing of the balcony and leaping up onto the hotel roof where Kara couldn't follow her. _What if I hurt her_? Sailor Saturn thought as she clutched her glaive close and curled up on the Hotel roof. She closed her eyes.

Transformed, the energy of the Initiative gathering was much easier to read. Saturn shivered. The negative emotions being generated by the crowds who were pouring into the street had quadrupled. _Worse_ : so had the dark sunspot energy that was feeding off the crowd. _I did that_! Saturn thought. _What if that makes the next sunspots come back faster or stronger? What if it's hurting the Earth?_

"Saturn?" Sailor Pluto's low, calm voice carried across the roof.

Saturn squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

"You ran into Nori then," Sailor Pluto sighed and Saturn heard her approach and then kneel close to her. Her hand smoothed back Saturn's hair. "I'm sorry, I had thought that was unlikely enough that you wouldn't see her."

"I'm sorry!" Saturn exclaimed. "I was just following Kara… cause I didn't listen to you when you said to stay back."

"That's my fault," Pluto said. "I should have told you I'd run into the Kaiohs… But if I had told you, you would have come to investigate anyways.

Saturn felt as though her face were burning with shame. Yes, she would have. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't be," Pluto assured her. "It doesn't matter – were you able to see how the energy in the room was interacting?"

Saturn sniffed. "Yes," she said.

"Then this was successful then," Pluto said.

"But my powers got out of control!" Saturn exclaimed. "I… I could have hurt someone… and it made the dark energy worse!"

"Accidents happen," Pluto consoled her. "You will get a handle on it – I promise."

"Can you _see_ it?" Saturn asked, looking up at Pluto.

Her mother smiled at her. "I don't need to see – I have faith in you, Little One."

Saturn swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "But you can't see?"

"Because your future is one that is still very flexible," Pluto said, putting her hands on Saturn's shoulders. "That means _you_ get to decide how it goes."

 _That means I could go out of control again_! Saturn thought, tightening her grip on the glaive. What if she never got a handle on it? _And every time I get angry something will explode or implode or melt or… or…_

"I'll try harder," Saturn promised Pluto. "It's… it's just hard because of the Initiative!" she decided. "I need to stop letting them get to me."

Pluto hummed and summoned the Time Doors, steering Saturn through them. "I think they're getting to all of us more than we'd like," she said. "Come on," she smiled at Saturn. "There's time for a Hot Chocolate at least before I drop you off at your Father's."

Saturn looked away and de-transformed. _She's being too nice to me_ , Hotaru thought. _I just ruined the mission! I probably made the whole Initiative even worse!_

 _And I keep losing control!_ Hotaru thought as the Time Doors swung open again revealing the coatroom in the Penthouse. _Why does it keep happening?_

Her phone buzzed in her suit pocket as she stepped out of the Time Dimension. Hotaru took it out.

Chibiusa: _How'd it go?_

 _Hotaru: It was fine… no one's possessed. But they are making the dark energy worse._

 _Chibiusa: Are u ok?_

 _Hotaru: …I got angry and blew up the lights._

 _Chibiusa: ! Is everything okay?_

 _Hotaru: Yeah…_

 _Hotaru: This stuff stops happening in the future, right?_

Chibiusa bit her lip. She didn't know Hotaru in the future. _I'll just tell her yes anyways,_ Chibiusa decided.

But as she went to type the reply, her thumb passed through the phone. It clattered out of her grip, tumbling down the shingles of the roof and clanging as it fell into the gutter. Chibiusa gulped, staring at her hand as she flexed out her fingers. They'd turned translucent. Bright gold specks of light were all that seemed to join them together. Her arms tingled as they too began to shimmer and fade. She felt the tingling in her toes too.

Chibiusa shivered as she watched her hands grow more and more transparent, and sighed as (at last) the color and opacity returned to them, the golden specks of light vanished. She closed her hands into fists and sighed. _I need to make sure Luna doesn't sit on my shoulders anymore,_ Chibiusa thought. _Or they'll notice…_

 _It's only because the Time Key doesn't work,_ Chibiusa rationalized. _Time's uncertain… but that's okay_. "As soon as they kick this enemy's butt, everything will go back to normal," Chibiusa said aloud. "I don't need to worry, cause… cause Usagi and Mamoru are still alive." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "So what if the future's uncertain – as long as they exist, I exist."

It was enough to convince her for five minutes, as she stared up at the half-moon overhead.

 _As long as they exist… and defeat this enemy… and all the Anti-Sailor people go away so they can be King and Queen… I'll exist. And when I go home, Mama and Papa will get to explain why the Crystal Points got built early and why I don't know future-Saturn… or future-Pluto… or Neptune or Uranus or the baby._

Chibiusa sighed, opening her eyes and staring once more at the Moon. "Why don't I know them?" Chibiusa asked. "If… if they're happy here, now and they're fighting evil with you now… why don't _I_ know them?" Surely they would have wanted to stay in Crystal Tokyo… _The only reason they might not have been there is cause past Pluto is in the thirtieth century,_ Chibiusa thought.

But even in that case, it had been years since Pluto's past self had died stopping time. And Chibiusa had visited several times since. None of the outer senshi had been there.

She shivered as she felt the tingling feeling spread through her hands and feet again, and squeezed her eyes shut until the feeling passed. It was worse when she thought of her doubts. _I can't tell them,_ Chibiusa thought. _They have too much else to worry about._

After all – she'd disappeared at the Galaxy Cauldron too when Mamoru's star seed got thrown in – and she'd come back fine from _that_.

 _It'll work out_ , Chibiusa thought.

She heard her phone buzz in the gutter and then the slamming of a car door close by. She sat up and slid to the edge of the roof to get her phone, and saw the car parked in front of the house.

No… not a car. Chibiusa squinted as she plucked her phone out of the gutter. _A taxi._ She heard whoever'd gotten out of the taxi ring their doorbell. _Who'd be getting a cab here so late!_

The front door of her house clicked open and she heard Ikuko-mama gasp and call into the house. " _Usagi!"_

" _WHAT_!" Usagi complained. Chibiusa heard her stomping through the house even from the roof. "I was slee-EEEEEEEE!" Usagi shrieked from within the house, and Chibiusa heard her run and slam into the person waiting on the porch. The impact and made them stumble back off the porch, dropping their bag. Chibiusa grinned as she saw the tall person's dark hair in the porch light, and heard him laugh as he spun Usagi around.

 _He's home!_

"Mamo-chan!"

~ _Á Suivre_ ~


	3. The Sailorless World

AN: So… *chuckles nervously* I am very sorry that I've been a very slow writer. Those of you following my Tumblr know I've been… stressed is a bit over simplified. I have some excellent news: I got accepted to graduate school! (Which means I can leave this job that drives me so nuts). It may mean grad school conflicts with writing… but I will be in a better mental place. So YOU will continue to get chapters no matter how much work I get in the next two years.

And I am very committed to finishing this and _Sailor Moon H_. So if you're patient with me, I promise I will get everything out of my head and onto the internet eventually.

Also: Thank you to the four people who beta'd Chapter 7 and 8 of this story. Your comments were encouraging and VERY helpful.

Disclaimer: Yada yada yada yada. Just look at Chapter one.

 _Last Time on Age of Aquarius: The Senshi confirmed their problem with the press is turning into additional energy the sunspots can use to get stronger, and are starting to see how their continued presence within the Earth affects the planet. They're preparing for renewed fighting from their foes, whatever form that may take._

 _All's not so dire thought. After all, Mamoru's home for the summer…_

 **The Sailorless World**

Usagi sighed as Mamoru closed the door to Chibiusa's room, the two of them having just tucked her in. She'd stayed up with the two of them and the Tsukinos for only a half hour before her head had begun to fall into her hot cocoa. She'd asked them to tuck her in, which Usagi knew was only because Mamoru was home; Chibiusa had not asked _her_ to tuck her in in a while. But she was long past the days it would have made her jealous.

"I can't believe this!" Usagi whispered as she grabbed Mamoru's hand and led him down the attic stairs, and down the hallway to her room. "I teleported over to see you _two_ weeks. And I didn't _know_."

"Well I wanted it to be a surprise," Mamoru teased.

"And my _mother_ knew?"

"And your friends," Mamoru grinned when Usagi gasped. "Ami was the one who found us the flight discount. And Rei's putting up the guys at the shrine."

"Oh those _sneaks,"_ Usagi said as she dragged Mamoru into her room. "I knew Rei was up to some…thing…"

Mamoru was coughing, holding his sleeve over his mouth. "Sorry," he gasped, and coughed again. The fit worsened as he leaned back against the door, his shoulders shaking.

He felt Usagi squeeze his hand. Silver light filled the room as refreshing, cool magic rushed into him. Immediately his coughing eased and faded, the irritation in his chest and throat vanished. Mamoru sighed, staring at the silver light emanating from the locket around Usagi's neck. She stepped closer as the light faded and leaned her head on his chest.

"You use it so easily," Mamoru murmured, wrapping his arms around her. "Did that tire you?"

Usagi shook her head. "You're worse," she whispered.

Mamoru sighed. His cough had been prevalent before the senshi's huge battle with the sunspots. Since then, there'd been days it left him confined to the couch and Zoisite sitting in on his classes to take notes for him. "The sunspot activity in the Earth is worse now, according to Helios," Mamoru told her. "Zoisite and Jadeite are working on something to see why."

"Ami's been working on it too, I bet together they could finish something." Usagi listened to him breathe for a few minutes – even with the fresh healing from the crystal's power she could hear a faint rattling in his lungs.

"I'm alright," Mamoru whispered. And Usagi pulled away, putting her hand over his heart and stretched up on her toes to kiss him.

When they broke apart Mamoru cupped her face in his hands, and smoothed his thumb across her cheek to catch the tear that fell there. "I've been keeping up with the news," Mamoru said, sliding his hands down to her shoulders. "You've been dealing with a lot here, haven't you? "

Usagi nodded, looking over at her desk, which (Mamoru saw) was filled end to end with paper and books whose colors he couldn't discern in the dark room.

"Saturn found out that everyone being angry is increasing all the sunspots power," Usagi whispered. A chill ran up Mamoru's spine. "Which is, apparently, making the people even angrier."

She grasped his hand and turned, leading him towards her bed. She stopped at her desk, brushing her hands over one of the papers there.

 _Parchment_ , Mamoru noticed. _These must be the old records they brought back from the Moon._

"I didn't think I'd miss high school," Usagi confessed. "But now I think everyday how I'd rather go back to it."

"Because the press didn't know anything about you then?"

"That," Usagi said. "And because we were all together." She turned and looked up at him. "Every time I see them, they say they're fine, but I miss seeing them everyday and knowing for sure." She shook her head, putting her hand over her heart. "Now it feels like we're all so far apart. And everyone's dealing with so much… I feel like all I can do is worry."

Mamoru squeezed her hand. "Well you have me now," he said. "I can help you look after them."

"But I want you to look after _you."_ Usagi insisted. Her eyes sparkled as she gazed up at him. "You're sick…"

"Only because of the enemy," Mamoru said, hugging her close. "We can fix that, Usako,"

"We don't know how yet," Usagi murmured. She fisted her hand in his shirt. "I _hate_ it… I have all these memories and still none of the answers." He watched her hand gesture towards the desk. "And I feel like _she_ already knew the answers and none of us can read them."

"Queen Serenity's journals?" Mamoru asked.

"Some of them, yeah," Usagi said. "And all that old paper from Earth."

Mamoru's eyes refocused on the curling, yellow parchment. His brow furrowed as his eyes scanned from the right to the left across the ancient handwriting.

Usagi felt him stiffen. "Mamo-chan?"

"I'll bring them to Helios," Mamoru said, stepping away from Usagi. "Maybe he'll have some answers." He pulled her down onto the bed and sighed, kicking off his slippers. "It's nice to –" He was cut off as he began to cough again, lifting his sleeve up to his mouth.

The room filled with silver light, and Usagi pressed her hand to his chest. Again, his coughing eased. He stared at her as her brow furrowed. She bit her lip, pushing more of the Silver Crystal's power into him.

Mamoru covered her hand with his and jumped a little as a golden light appeared between them, the golden crystal materialized and filled with light equal to Usagi's crystal.

"Usako," he whispered when he heard her breath hitch. The lights from her crystal and then his faded, and he pulled her hand from his chest, twining their fingers together. "It's alright," he squeezed her hand. "Don't waste your power on me."

"It's not a waste," Usagi said. And she cupped his face with her other hand. "You're everything to me." she whispered, the two of them leaning towards each other. Usagi slid her hand down to the collar of his shirt. "I love you," she whispered. She kissed him.

They fell together onto the pillows, hands grasping for each other, popping buttons and slipping under clothes, each trying to get as close together as possible.

"Mamo-chan."

"Usako…"

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

 _They were growing strong again, at last. It had taken long enough. It had thought such a small, inactive world, no matter how many lights gathered to its defense, would still generate its soldiers at a fast pace given the turmoil across its surface. Perhaps it had overestimated how many soldiers the pathetic core could quickly produce._

 _But the first were nearly ready once more. It had been a good move to direct more of its lights to split and gather power in the Guardians' world this time around. It would be the planet's undoing. And soon it could make these stars' irritating, blue world the first to fall._

 _It was still irked that it could not move more quickly through Sol's worlds, but too many lost would mean fewer of its lights to fight these Guardians, who'd proved more resilient than many of their kind._

 _And there were nine. It still could not fathom how that had become so. Only one mortal could bond with every star. It despised the ordered realm in many ways, but at least it could be counted on for such patterns and consistency._

 _It refocused on the progress of those captured lights gathering power within the blue world's core. It hissed, if only they could move more quickly._

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

 _Sirius… Sirius_.

Mina stirred, brows furrowing. She stretched her hand out above her, reaching for the orange starlight.

 _Sirius!_ Rei called again in her head, triumphant.

Mina closed her fingers around the light. But frowned, her hand was empty. Mina blinked her eyes open.

 _Rei's dreaming,_ she realized, turning her head, Rei was facing her, a small smile on her sleeping face. Mina grinned, reaching out and covering Rei's hand with hers. She closed her eyes, concentrating on thinking about nothing. It was harder than Rei said it was, but she was getting the hang of it.

She couldn't see what Rei could see, but she could hear them speaking...

" _You are Sol?"_ Sirius was asking. " _But there is Silver Sol? And Orange Sol? How do you have so many faces?"_

" _There's nine of us,"_ Rei told her.

Mina heard Sirius gasp. _"It_ split _you too?"_

" _No! No,_ " Rei rushed to say. " _No we're different – we're whole."_

Mina could feel Rei venturing deeper into whatever place she dreamed of. She squeezed her hand tightly.

" _How many of you are here?_ " Rei asked the star she'd found.

" _I don't know_ ," Sirius said. They gasped. " _There's so many here... I cannot usually see them"_

Mina frowned, reaching towards Rei's dream. She could just see, if she strained, a vision of thousands of tiny lights sparking in a dark vacuum.

" _Why?"_ Rei asked.

" _Perhaps it is because you are here – you can see, so I can."_

" _Did you know any of them?"_

Mina felt Rei's disappointment in herself as Sirius replied. " _I didn't know anyone else."_

 _So Sirius can't tell us any of the others names,_ Mina concluded.

" _Then I'll have to meet them all," Rei told Sirius, stretching her consciousness further. "Come on!"_

Mina strained to follow her. She stretched her hand out for the thicker blanket as Rei searched for other stars. Was it cold out? Had she left the window open?

 _Concentrate,_ Mina reminded herself. Thinking of nothing was so hard!

She felt Rei's triumph and saw, briefly, a yellow light appear in her mind, the clear image of a crystal.

" _Sol_ ," a new voice spoke to Rei, and Mina chuckled at her annoyance.

" _Fine, yes, I'm Sol,"_ Rei snapped impatiently at whatever star she'd found.

" _And… you're Sirius,"_ the new, yellow star declared.

 _How is it they can guess Sirius name right but not ours?_ Mina pondered as Rei asked the new star their name.

" _You're Aldebaran!"_ Sirius said.

 _Aldebaran,_ Rei repeated to Mina, and she got the impression of a stout, curvy figure with three pigtails that swirled round them, and a yellow symbol, triangular, on their forehead.

" _I was once,"_ the yellow senshi whispered in a voice that made Mina shiver. " _Am I still?"_

" _Come on!"_ Rei told the two stars, " _I need to meet more of you_."

Mina smiled, listening in to the names that Rei relayed back to her as she dreamed: a blue symbol, a star with a tumbler's build and a soprano's voice – _Capella_ ; a bright white star with a simple cross on their bare head – _Polaris;_ a red star, an old woman, whose gnarled hand was curled as if it should hold a cane – _Methuselah;_ a green symbol like a hook approaching her in the dark.

" _WAIT!"_ the voices of the stars startled Mina awake just as two serpentine, pupil-less eyes, snapped open below the glowing green symbol. A jolt of terror snapped Rei and Mina's connection as a far more terrible voice rattled through their heads.

" _SOL!"_

 _The snake!_ Mina thought, straining to reach Rei again, but she'd slipped too far into her dream. Mina leaned over her, shaking her shoulder. "Rei!"

But Rei didn't wake. She tossed her head to the side, biting her lip. Her skin had turned clammy.

"Rei!" Mina tried again, reaching for her mentally as well. She shivered again. So did Rei. Why was it so damn cold?

 _It's not my room; it's her dream!_ Mina realized. "Rei come on!" Mina begged, shaking her again. Her head ached as she tried to reach Rei's consciousness.

Rei felt panicked and quite cold. _Sirius,_ she thought to Mina. _Sirius. Aldebaran. Capella. Polaris. Methuselah…_

 _I remember their names, you noble idiot,_ she thought, _Get out of there!_

Mina shook her again. But Rei didn't respond, tossing her head from side to side. She felt cooler and cooler to the touch. Her sailor symbol flared to life on her forehead.

 _Sirius… Aldebaran… Capella… Polaris… Methuselah…_

" _REI!"_ Mina snapped, hauling her upright. Rei's thoughts were getting fainter.

Her heart leapt into her throat as Rei's sailor sigil flickered, for a moment turning from black to red and back.

 _How did Sailor Moon do this at the shrine?_ Mina fretted. She didn't have a Silver Crystal and Usagi would be asleep. And Rei was stuck in her nightmare.

Rei's sailor sigil flickered black again. Mina panicked.

She slapped Rei across the cheek.

Rei's eyes snapped open. She launched forwards, pushing Mina so hard she fell over the side of the bed.

"Mina!" Rei gasped, trying to catch her breath.

Mina jumped up from the floor. "Here!" she said, clapping her hands. The lights in the bedroom lit up, illuminating the cool lavender and grey walls and the cluttered desk in the corner, and Artemis – snoring through the drama on the pillow he'd stolen and placed atop one of the book shelves.

Rei clutched her hand over her heart, hearing in racing in her chest. Her other hand was choked the blue bed sheets in a vice grip.

"Rei," Mina said. The mattress bounced as she climbed back into bed and crawled up to Rei, kneeling next to her. She kissed her reddening cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered, as Rei leaned her forehead against Mina's. "I got scared you wouldn't wake up."

 _Was I really that far away?_ Rei thought, lacing her fingers with Mina's. Mina was so warm! Whereas Rei still felt like she was tumbling through that endless, icy darkness.

Mina was rambling, but Rei was only half listening. She caught her breath, closing her eyes for a minute and opening them again. Dark blue eyes stared right back at her.

Mina was still there. And Rei could feel her fire within her as strong as ever, a sharp contrast to how it had felt, barely a candle's size, when the snake had caught her in her dream.

"I went back," Rei explained. "I tried to find other senshi. I met some – Aldebaran."

"And Capella, and Polaris, and Methuselah," Mina finished.

"Yes," Rei said. And a terrible thought struck her. _I didn't bring you there with me, did I?_

 _No,_ Mina assured her, running her hand up and down Rei's arm. It was covered in goosebumps. _No I just heard you speaking to them._

 _Good,_ Rei thought, finally feeling some semblance of normal. She shifted to the side, leaning into Mina, who wrapped her in a tight hug.

"It attacked you," Mina whispered. "You can't keep reaching out for them if that can happen."

Rei sighed. _But their names…_

 _Aren't worth it if it can hurt you!_ Mina was adamant. "Promise you won't try it again," she begged, squeezing Rei tightly. "It's _too_ dangerous."

Rei shook her head. "We need to know their names," Rei insisted. "It's the only way to reach them when they're all split up."

"We'll find another way," Mina said firmly. "I'll order you to stop if I have to."

Rei scowled and pulled away. She began trying to muster up the energy for an argument, when something beeped on Mina's bedside table – her orange communicator.

" _Mina_ ," Usagi's voice came through. " _Mina, are you awake_?"

Mina sighed and reached over to grab it. "You, have to stop," she insisted to Rei and held the communicator up to her face. "I'm here, Usagi."

" _We should have a meeting tomorrow,"_ Usagi said. " _Mamo and I… we thought of something."_

Mina raised her eyebrows and traded a concerned look with Rei. Usagi didn't sound excited. "About the sunspots in the Earth?" she guessed.

" _Yes,"_ Usagi answered. " _There used to be someone who could wake it."_

Mina frowned. "Used to be?"

" _Yes."_

"Does she mean there isn't anyone now?" Rei worried, putting her hand on Mina's shoulder. The prospect of arguing with her suddenly much less important when they needed to worry about so much more.

Mina sighed. "Alright," she told Usagi. "Get back to Prince Charming. I'll set something up." She lowered the communicator and rubbed her hand over her face.

"Ami's out of class at five," Rei told her.

"And Makoto closes up at four-thirty." Mina tapped the star button on the side of her communicator. "Send message to all units at nine A.M. Record: Dinner meeting at command at five-thirty."

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

 _She ducked as another lash of radiation snapped towards her and dug her fingers into the crumbling rock to keep herself from slipping. If it blasted her out into the vacuum…_

 _Behind her she knew the armies were drifting, helpless from a pulse of radiation that had sapped the magic from their fleets and even shorted out the light in the strange, Plutonian and Mercurian weapons._

 _Ahead, another asteroid exploded, the icy chunks spraying towards her, imbued with dark energy. She deflected them with a flurry of rose petals and glared past the debris, at the blood-red form of the dark planet, its poisonous power flowing all across the dead surface._

 _In her ear the communicator sizzled with static, the magic in it dead._

It'll kill the rest of our magic if I can't do something! _She grimaced as another wave of radiation slammed into her asteroid, and punched her fist into the ice to make a larger handhold._

 _She'd pushed this malicious planet back as far as the outer ring now, blast after blast of her power against the dark planet's forcing it away from the outer worlds, and from Neptune's colonies._

 _And the effort was taking its toll. She could feel it in the heaviness in her limbs, and the way the cold was finally seeping into her despite her transformation._

 _She could see her fatigue too: in each diminished blast. The dark planet would be gaining ground again soon._

If it gets back into the main system, _she thought, scrambling to hold her position as a whip of poisoned radiation knocked her asteroid back a few hundred yards._ If it gets back in and starts leeching off the planets' magic again…

I can't let that happen.

 _She swallowed the lump in her throat and countered the next blast of radiation. A lucky shot: her attack breached the planet's radiation shields and slammed into the surface, knocking it back towards deep space. With her brief respite, she took stock of her position. Nothing out here was a planet, nor dwarf world, nor colony... Nothing out here could grant her more power. All that lingered so far from Sol were the ever-frozen chunks of Kuiper ice…_

Ice crystals!

 _She got to her feet and leapt off of her crumbling asteroid as the next blast hit, grabbing hold of an ice chunk to her left and barely holding on._

 _Crystals worked with her people's magic. Mineral would have been better…_

Ice will have to do _. She closed her eyes, concentrated on her golden power, and stretched out her hand._

" _Kuiper," she shouted, "I call upon your ice to take my magic, hold on to it. Make a shield wide enough to keep this evil back." She snapped her eyes open. "EARTH CRYSTAL POWER!"_

 _Her golden magic exploded out of her white-gloved fingers, jumping ahead to the chunks of ice hovering meters away. Her magic filled them, shattering the Kuiper ice into millions of pieces… brightly shining clouds of ice crystals…_

 _She gritted her teeth, pushing those pieces farther out, stretching her magic into asteroids farther and farther to the right. Ice as far as she could see glowed golden and shattered. She willed it to form into a ring, and then a wall of bright, blazing light._

 _A flare of the dark planet's radiation lashed out towards her magic and was reflected back._

 _She grinned, golden hair whipping around her as she glanced to the left. Another arm of radiation was racing towards her unprotected side._

 _She released her hold on her asteroid, her only anchor, and whipped her left arm out. Her magic rocketed out of her fingertips and into the ice._

 _Her feet lost purchase the asteroid's surface as she drifted away from it, into the vacuum of space._

 _But her golden magic now raced out of both hands, stretching out in both directions instead of one, creating a wall of ice taller than the dark planet and brighter than Sol's light had ever been so far out from its worlds…_

" _More," she demanded, gritting her teeth as a wave of dizziness swamped her. The imposing form of the dark planet grew hazy._ Just a little more… _she thought. She needed to keep going._

 _Her gold power stretched from asteroid to asteroid, filling the ice crystals all around her star system until each branch of her power met again on the far side of her star. It chimed as the ice formed a golden ring of power, brightening into a shield that would hold, long after she was gone, to keep the dark planet at bay._

 _As she faded, she smiled, thinking of her Martian tutor._ How's that for Earthling magic…

Usagi and Mamoru woke at the same time, both throwing off their covers as they gasped, right and left hands darting to their chests.

Usagi closed her hand around the Silver Crystal's locket and looked at Mamoru, who was staring at the Golden Crystal, glowing faintly, clutched in his hand.

He looked at her. "Did you have," he began, panting.

"That dream…" Usagi finished. She squeezed his hand. "That was… That was _real_."

Mamoru nodded and sighed. He squeezed the Golden Crystal more tightly and began to cough, pressing his fist against his chest.

"Mamo-chan!" Usagi exclaimed, turning towards him.

But he shook his head; his coughing eased. "I'm fine," he rasped.

Usagi sighed, and then groaned, releasing the Silver Crystal and rubbing her hand over her eyes.

She hadn't recognized the uniform of the sailor in their dream,

Mamoru squeezed her hand, drawing her attention to his frown, and how his dark eyes stared at the Golden Crystal. "That senshi," he murmured. "They were from Earth." He looked at her. "They used Earth's power."

Usagi nodded, and her eyes widened as she recalled something her mother had told her, a conversation from a lifetime ago.

" _Sailor Earth's a legend like Pluto, you could say. Just not a living one."_

"Do you think there's a Sailor out there who _can_ awaken the Earth?" Mamoru said. "Why… why is it I have the Golden Crystal and not them?"

"I don't know," Usagi groused. "But _she_ did." She released his hand and pointed to the desk beside him, with the piles of parchment and journals that no one could read. Usagi glared at them.

Mamoru frowned at the journals on the desk, picking up one from an unsorted stack. "She… your mother?"

"Fat load of good it does us," Usagi grumbled, crossing her arms and burying her face in them as tears gathered in her eyes. She felt Mamoru's hand on her back and sighed. "I wish I could read those," Usagi cried. "Any of them… so I could know what she knew."

Mamoru rubbed her back, examining the journal he'd picked up.

It fell open to a page book-marked by folded parchment. Mamoru frowned; there was soot around the charred edges. Mamoru held the Golden Crystal up to the parchment. There was a picture on it, half burnt away. His eyes scanned right to left across the characters visible in the Golden Crystal's light.

Usagi sighed, and Mamoru closed the book as she looked up. "If Earth had a Sailor, than we can awaken it," she said. "There's _got_ to be a way." She leaned over, reaching for the communicator on the nightstand and accidentally knocked it on the floor in the dark. She groaned and leaned over to fish the communicator out from under the bed. While she did, Mamoru closed the journal, leaned over and slipped it into the bag he'd left on the floor.

"Got it!" Usagi declared. And Mamoru turned quickly and smiled at her as she spoke into the communicator. "Mina, are you awake?"

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

Due to the timing of their meeting, they ordered pizza to the arcade. It seemed Matoki'd gotten over his worries about whether they were aliens since confronting them the month before, because Luna put the pizza in his name, and he didn't think twice about buzzing the intercom button hidden on the Sailor V game when the stack of 14 pizza boxes arrived.

Usagi and Makoto went to get them, and it occurred to Usagi as she went back down carrying six of the pizzas that there'd never been an occasion before where all of them, including the Shittenou were in the command center together. _Someday,_ Usagi thought, _I'll be able to count the times we've been together – without an enemy threat – on more than one hand._

Dinner was well received. Michiru slid between Makoto and Usagi when they'd barely reached the bottom of the stairs and plucked the smaller box off the top of Makoto's stack. The others crowded around, pushing several cushions into the center of the room so that Mako and Usagi could set the boxes down. Some, like Ami, hadn't eaten since early morning, and they'd cleared out three of the boxes before Makoto'd even gotten the paper plates out. (Usagi made sure Ami had a pizza box to herself).

There were not enough seats for all of them now, and so Usagi made the choice of leaning against the Lunar computer rather than have any of her friends offering her their seats. She leaned on Mamoru as she ate a bite of her pizza.

"Alright," Mina said once she'd piled four slices onto her plate and plopped down on the couch between Ami and Rei. "First things first," she took a bite of her first slice. "How's the news today?"

"Mixed over all," Artemis said, pressing a button on the computer with his tail. Articles, videos, photos, and all sorts of data sprung up on the five computer monitors.

"Sailor Accountability Initiative," Luna began. "Thinks some EMP was let off by a senshi sympathizer at their event yesterday. Hino and the Kaiohs are calling for an investigation."

"And the full text of the speech Hino planned to give is online," Artemis said. "In a way that's good – more details of what he wants a legislative approach to his Initiative entail."

"You mean more bullshit," Haruka muttered.

"And a move to charge you with destruction of property was thrown out of court," Luna continued. "It was for the TV tower, though I have a feeling they have more in mind… particularly if the owners of the supermarket seek damages from the crystal point we put there."

"What about Bob Floy's and the Chess Tower?" Mina asked through a large bite of Pizza.

"Chess Tower is public land," Ami said. "I suppose if the court's thrown out the case for the TV tower, that would be next on the list."

"Bob Floy, we don't have to worry about," Artemis said. "The man who owns it has a Venus sigil on his wrist… Luna and I have reached out to him."

"And offered him a sizeable amount of compensation for the damages," Luna said.

Mamoru's mind was spinning. He was only a little glad to see Jadeite, Zoisite, and Kunzite looking similarly lost. "The owner has a Venus sigil?" he asked.

"Yeah," Usagi said, "There's a lot of people showing up with mine or Venus' symbol on their wrists… we think they're reincarnated from the Moon Kingdom.

"I wonder how they're faring given the current atmosphere?" Michiru wondered, looking down at her mirror.

"Those we've found are keeping quiet," Luna said. "There've been no reports of hostile encounters with the Initiative supporters yet."

"Just wait for more to start popping up," Makoto muttered. "They'll happen."

They continued discussing the news, and catching Mamoru and Shittenou up on what had happened throughout the spring, while they finished dinner.

"Last four!" Haruka called out as she lifted up the last pizza box. Makoto jumped up to grab one of the remaining slices, and Haruka offered the others to Hotaru and Chibiusa, taking the last.

"Right," she said as she discarded the box. "What else is going on?"

Mamoru and Usagi glanced at each other and Mamoru clasped her hand.

"We had a dream," Usagi began, "about the past – a _really_ strange one."

Mamoru let Usagi do most of the talking, much of his attention taken up by other things – first and foremost, stifling the occasional coughing fit, and then by Lunar Command's five monitors. Luna and Artemis had noticed something on the left hand screen and were fiddling with the keyboard. A flashing red window expanded: opening up several maps, radar data, and other measurements that both advisors set to analysing. Mamoru's eyes zeroed in on one map, which was covered by lines varying from yellow to an attention grabbing red. The brightest red lines hugged the Japanese coast and travelled up through the Pacific into the Arctic Ocean. _The Ring of Fire…_ he shivered. More angry red lines traced the map across northern India, and the west coast of America. Yellow lines traced down through the Andes, an orange line, turning red, cut across East Africa.

 _The fault lines…_ Mamoru thought, watching Luna and Artemis whisper back and forth at the controls. He didn't like the way their fur stood on end.

"So," Mina was said loudly, drawing him back to the discussion. "So wait, hang on." She looked around the room. "We're… missing a senshi?"

"We can't be," Hotaru said. "There's no other sailors but us – I'd know." She looked up at Setsuna, sitting beside her on the couch. "Wouldn't I?"

Setsuna nodded. "Hotaru is right – there was no Sailor Earth born during the Silver Millennium, and there isn't one now." She looked to Mamoru. "As the person who wields the Golden Crystal, Mamoru is the closest to playing that role."

"But unfortunately far from the same," Luna said, stepping away from the monitor she and Artemis had been looking at. "As I recall," she glanced back at Artemis. "The Golden Crystal could only be wielded by those of the bloodline of Earth's rulers."

Artemis nodded. "We theorized once that there _could_ be a Sailor of Earth _if_ a girl with a Sailor Crystal were ever born into that family – but while there were plenty of girls, none had one, nor the ability to transform."

Luna nodded. "Mamoru, we believe, must have a Sailor Crystal, as he has a lot more control over that Golden Crystal than many of his ancestors did – and he has gained a transformation in this life, but..."

"I'm still not a Sailor," Mamoru concluded, taking out the Golden Crystal and staring at it for a moment before closing his fist around it. "I doubt I could awaken the Earth like we need."

Usagi frowned. "Maybe not alone…" she said and pulled the Silver Crystal's locket out from under her shirt. She opened it. The Silver Crystal and Golden Crystal shone brightly under the glare of the command center's florescent lights. "But… but together maybe we could…" Usagi looked at their advisors, and then at Setsuna. "We had our dream because we were together, and our crystals glowed together." She smiled at Mamoru. "Maybe we can kick the sunspots out of the Earth if we combine our powers."

While Setsuna stared up to the left, clearly considering it, Luna and Artemis were both frowning, having some sort of disagreement it seemed from the shaking of their heads and twitching of their ears.

Finally, Artemis sighed. "It would be… worth a shot," he said.

"Great!" Usagi knocked her plate (and nearly her pizza) on the floor as she jumped up. "Where's the Earth's magical-point-thingy?"

"Would it be in paradise?" Mina asked. "Cause… It's probably under a parking lot," she joked. Rei elbowed her in the ribs.

"Actually," Artemis smirked. "Minako is not far off… for once."

And he leapt across the command center's console and tapped a key on the right hand side of the keyboard. A picture popped up on the central monitor: a Golden obelisk of nearly the same proportions as the silver one on the Moon. Columns supporting a covered walkway, and a garden in full-bloom surrounded the crystal structure.

The Shittenou and Mamoru's eyes lit up. "That's Elysion!" Kunzite said.

The two cats nodded. "Or part of it," Artemis said. "The original Elysion – Usagi and Mina, you may recall – was a sprawling city. Earth's magical point was its central hub. There was a large temple built around it quite long ago," Artemis carried on. "Possibly since the magical point's first appearance if the old records of the structure's age are to be believed."

"Only the building sunk below ground when Metalia attacked," Luna said. "A good thing now, too – it's unlikely that the sunspots will have found such a small structure. And hopefully they won't be able to find it beneath the ground if they sense us trying to activate it."

"Then we should teleport there as soon… aaaas everyone's finished," Mina said. She, Usagi, and Ami still had pizza left.

Luna hopped up onto Usagi's shoulders as the others lapsed into conversation, and Usagi held a slice of pepperoni up to her advisor.

"Wait, Luna," Chibiusa said, leaning around Mamoru. "Does that mean I'm Sailor Earth?" Her eyes widened. "Did I get me _name_ wrong?"

Luna chuckled shook her head, finishing the pepperoni before replying. "If that were the case, I doubt you could have been transforming this many years." She head-butted Usagi so that she would give her more pepperoni. "That said, you can use the Golden Crystal, so it is possible you have Sailor Earth's powers, if not her name." Luna glanced up and smirked when she saw Michiru and the other outer senshi look away, pretending not to be listening. "There's never been a case where a Sailor has inherited powers from more than one planet," Luna said a little louder for their benefit. "So its hard for me to say."

Mamoru furrowed his eyebrows.

"Something wrong, Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked.

"Nothing," he said, though he was still frowning. "Do you remember what the Sailor Earth in our dream looked like?"

"Err…" Usagi made a face. For most of the dream she had _been_ the Sailor. And only just before waking had she caught a look at her face. "Blonde? Oh! And she had red eyes!" She winked down at Chibiusa. "Glad to have _that_ explained – I bet they run in your family, Mamo-chan."

"Maybe," Mamoru murmured, still thinking.

He'd seen the Sailor's face too. But, as he recalled, she'd looked much more like Usagi than him.

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

They teleported down to Elysion all together a half hour later, Sailor Moon's positivity having put them all in a practically jovial mood by the time they left the command center.

They appeared in the wide, Elysion garden – a central temple cloister according to Ami – whose ancient roses had grown up over the columns, walls, and roof tiles of the surrounding temple. The Senshi and Shittenou separated gracefully, taking up positions in a circle around the cloister. It lent an atmosphere to the ancient space not dissimilar to a palace court: Jupiter and Nephrite stood together at the darkened doorway to the temple, with Mars and Jadeite opposite them. Kunzite and Venus stood to either side of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. And Mercury, Zoisite, and the Outer Senshi all fanned out around the covered walkway, completing the circle around the golden obelisk that gleamed under the magical space's false sunlight.

The only member of their party who forgot her decorum was Chibi Moon, who broke from the group and ran at Helios as soon as they'd materialized. The priest, who'd been kneeling before the obelisk, rose just in time to catch her as she barrelled into him.

"Helios!" Chibi Moon cheered, nearly knocking the breath out of him.

Helios wheezed and grinned as he spun her and then set her down on the flagstones. He gave her a proper bow, the sort that was considered quite old and traditional by Crystal Tokyo's standards. And then he followed this by kneeling so he could look her in the face. He had to look up at her now. "Little Maiden," he beamed. "You've grown taller."

"And more powerful too!" Chibi Moon said, pointing her thumb proudly at herself. "I can attack all on my own now."

Helios laughed and looked past her. He rose to his feet so that he could bow just as deeply to Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon as they approached. "Your Majesties," he addressed them.

Chibi Moon giggled as this made both her future parents turn red. "We've thought of a way to awaken the Earth!" she exclaimed while the still-blushing Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon tried to find their words. "Mama and Papa are going to do it together!"

Helios raised his eyebrows and smiled even wider. "Truly?"

"Yes," Sailor Moon declared, walking forwards, hand in hand with Tuxedo Mask, whose smile, while smaller, was no less genuine. "The Moon's power and the Earth's power together," Usagi said. "No sunspot will stand up to that."

Helios nodded and stepped aside, waving the two of them towards the Golden Obelisk.

The senshi and the Shittenou held their breath as Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon stepped up to the obelisk. They each held their crystal in one hand. And when Tuxedo Mask put his spare hand flat against the face of the obelisk, Sailor Moon covered it with her own.

Both their crystals began to glow, and shortly after, to small delighted gasps all around the cloister, the obelisk began to fill with its own golden glow.

But as the minutes ticked past, the glow did not intensify. Not even while the Gold and Silver Crystals shone with blinding light.

"But…" Chibiusa sputtered as her parents' shoulders slumped, and their hands fell away from the dimming obelisk. "But…"

Helios put his hands on her shoulders. "It is alright, Little Maiden," he said. "It was a long shot at best." And as he spoke, Tuxedo Mask de-transformed and tucked the Golden Crystal away into the neck of his shirt. "Your Majesty," Helios said to him. "Do not feel discouraged – while you have… a uniquely strong bond with that crystal, you were not able to awaken the Earth in your past life either."

Mamoru looked up at him. "I've tried before?"

Helios nodded, turning his head as he did to address all the discouraged Senshi and Shittenou. "You and I tried several times as Metalia rose – hoping an awakened Earth could grant its people more protection against the daimon, or that it would choose a new girl to be its Guardian."

"But I don't understand," Mamoru said. "Why did we lose our Sailor at all?"

Helios looked down, his eyes finding the lines of mortar between the flagstones. He heard a jingle and his gaze found Luna and Artemis as they approached.

"Helios," Mamoru prompted him again.

"During Earth's second war with Metalia," Helios began in a measured tone. "The Golden Crystal was separated from its Sailor and in order to maintain some protection over the Earth, control of it was given to your ancestors and their descendants."

"The Sailor Earth of the time was lost," Luna picked up quickly. And several of those gathered – like Michiru, Rei, and Mamoru – frowned at the odd staring contest that seemed to be going on between the two Lunar advisors. "And it was thought at the time that there would not be another sailor after her – and indeed there wasn't for about 800 years… until the nine of you."

"Did she die?" Chibi Moon asked.

"No," Luna said. "But her powers vanished when she and the Golden Crystal were separated.

Helios hummed. "There didn't seem to be consequences at first," he said. "Earth's royal family, your family," he said to Mamoru, " _could_ use the Golden Crystal, each individual to varying extents… and you were the most adept of any of them at using it, My King," Helios looked right at Mamoru. "It developed a very strong connection to you."

Mamoru looked away, and Helios sighed, continuing: "The Earth has been asleep for far longer than any of your worlds… and it is why the magic here slowly began to wane, those capable of performing it to dwindle." He lifted his hand and gestured to the Shittenou. "By the end of the Silver Millennium, only four individuals remained who displayed the capacity to be trained in Earth's magical traditions."

The four Shittenou looked at each other and then at the gemstones that fastened each of their capes.

"But," Sailor Moon said. "But don't the Earth's and the Moon's powers want to be together?" she looked at Mamoru. "You had that feeling in the past… Why can't my powers and yours be enough?"

"It was a good theory," Helios consoled them. "But I think it will take more than two separate planet powers to do the job. The Earth needs its own Sailor again… someone in my King's family capable of becoming such a senshi." He shook his head. "Until then a fully powered Earth may simply be lost to us."

Chibi Moon pursed her lips, stepping away from the priest and looking from him, to her parents, and to her friends and family around the cloister. Pluto caught her eye and began shaking her head. Saturn joined her. But Chibi Moon turned away from them, turning her gaze on the golden obelisk.

 _I don't care if I shouldn't interfere,_ Chibi Moon thought. _They need me_. _Earth needs me._ "I activated the crystal points," Chibi Moon said. "I bet I can activate this then."

"Small Lady," Pluto warned, stepping away from the perimeter of the cloister. "I wouldn't."

"Why?" Chibi Moon demanded. "We need the sunspots out of the Earth somehow, don't we?" She closed her hand into a fist. "We can't get to my future at all if they stay there – right?"

Pluto hesitated, stopping beside Helios a few feet from Chibi Moon. "That is true… _however_ ,"

"And I _am_ a Sailor of the Earth," Chibi Moon pressed on. "So I can wake it up – can't I?" she asked of Helios.

The priest thought for a moment, and traded a glance with Pluto, whose mouth was a thin line. Helios looked away from her and shook his head. "I don't see what harm it could do," he said. "In fact I have… long thought that the Earth yearned to have a Sailor who could use her crystal once more – and I've also long thought Chibi Moon is that Sailor," he waved at the obelisk. "True… tis not her Earth, not yet. But perhaps, she's meant to be here, to make it so… to create her future herself."

Privately, Pluto thought this to be a moron's understanding of the inherent consequences of a grandfather paradox. But that did not change the effect Helios theory would have on their current problem.

 _Perhaps we already are in such a paradox,_ Pluto considered, _and perhaps only allowing Chibiusa to meddle will get us back to her timeline._

She made the mistake of looking at Chibi Moon: who had trained wide, pleading red eyes on her and clasped both her hands together.

Pluto clutched the Garnet Rod tighter as she bowed her head. "Fine."

Chibi Moon's face lit up. She ran to hug Pluto. "Don't worry, Puu!" she stood on her toes to squeeze Pluto around the waist. "I can do it, I know it."

She stepped away, rushing right up to the obelisk and slapping her hand against the crystal. _I can save the future!_ "Earth!" Chibi Moon grinned. "It's time for your powers to wake up – and kick out the sunspots that are hurting you." She closed her eyes as her crescent mark and her brooch began to glow. " _Golden Crystal POWER!_ "

Everyone in the cloister held their breath as pink and then golden light engulfed Chibi Moon. It began to stream into the obelisk, until her power coated the whole crystal – blinding in its intensity!

"She's going to do it," Sailor Moon breathed. A few steps from her, Helios had his hands pressed together over his face. He was grinning from ear to ear.

But, as the bright light continued to intensify, more and more of it filling Earth's magical point, Mamoru frowned.

His own Golden Crystal, from their present time, was not reacting.

Pluto and Mamoru noticed at the same time when the pebbles and plants around them began to tremble.

And suddenly, all the energy filling the obelisk rushed together, concentrating into a blindingly bright beam.

The crystal began to hum.

Pluto shot forwards. The Garnet Rod fell to the ground in her wake. "Small Lady!" she shouted, sprinting at Chibi Moon and jerking her away from the obelisk.

The power in it exploded.

" _Silence Wall!"_

Black and purple lightning sprang up in an arc between most of their gathering and the violent explosion of golden magic that rushed out of the obelisk. It slammed into Saturn's shield with an ear-splitting shriek and knocked the young senshi back nearly a foot. She would have tripped over her feet had Neptune moved close enough to steady her.

"Pluto!"

"Sailor Moon!"

"My King!" Shouts rang up as the golden power blinded their view of everything beyond the Silence Wall, which Pluto, Chibi Moon, Mamoru, and Sailor Moon had been trapped outside of.

All of them save for Saturn and Neptune ran up to the boundary of the wall, squinting as they tried to see through the explosion that continued to rage outside.

And then all at once, the Golden Crystal's power vanished, leaving spots in their eyes and the echo of its shrieking clash with the Silence Wall in their ears.

Mars, Helios, and Kunzite were the first to rush forwards when an exhausted Saturn vanished the wall. All of them blinked rapidly to clear their vision.

"There!" Mars shouted, pointing to the far left corner of the cloister.

Sailor Moon was standing in front of the others, surrounded by burnt-white flagstones and ash-filled flowerbeds. Her legs were braced apart and her arms were crossed in front of her.

Protected behind her, was Mamoru, who seemed to have been knocked off his feet, and behind him Pluto, who had rolled all the way into the far wall with Chibi Moon and had covered the small senshi's body with her own.

As the rest of the Senshi and the Shittenou sprinted to them, Sailor Moon lowered her arms and turned around.

Pluto pushed herself up, helping a de-transformed Chibiusa to her feet. "Small Lady," she checked, brushing back Chibiusa's hair and clutching her shoulders.

The girl glanced around, blinking, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Chibiusa?" Sailor Moon asked as she and Mamoru huddled close to them.

"It… didn't work?" Chibiusa looked down at her brooch. "But… but why?"

"As I suspected," Pluto told her hurriedly. "It is no fault of yours, Small Lady, but your being from the future was bound to have complicated effects – this is –"

"But I can use Papa's Golden Crystal just fine!" Chibiusa argued.

"Because… I suppose because it is your father's," Pluto said, "You have a… far more direct connection to it than this planet, in this present time."

"But she can use the Moon's power," Sailor Moon pointed out. "How is Earth different?"

They all looked to Pluto, who was frowning, and then to Mamoru, who was shaking his head.

Helios cleared his throat. "Before perhaps it would not have been any different," Helios began. "But now I fear… if Chibiusa can not awaken it, then that confirms a theory my family and I have hoped for a millennia was not true." He turned to the obelisk. "When Earth's lifespans began to wane, when the numbers of its Magae began to dwindle, we suspected that these things were related to the loss of our Sailor. And not simply because the Earth was upset, rather…" he looked at Mamoru's Golden Crystal, "That her crystal was the physical form of Earth's soul, and the senshi its link to the planet… by separating them, we feared, the planet had also been separated from her power. Thus Earth's magic and her ability to produce strong star seeds began to weaken."

He looked to the obelisk. "So while this may once have been a magical connection between the Earth's surface and her heart, now it is a physical link only. Perhaps Chibiusa's effort has failed not because she is unfit, but because there is nothing magical within Earth's heart for her power to awaken."

"Like a closed circuit," Mercury said. "She overloaded the obelisk with power and it had no where to go."

Helios nodded.

And Chibiusa drew everyone's attention when she sniffed. "So we can't get the sunspots out." She said, her lip trembling. "We can't do _anything_."

"Don't think that," Sailor Moon and Pluto said at the same time.

"Chibiusa," Sailor Moon added, looking determinedly at her daughter, and then at all those gathered. "We _will_ figure something out." She grabbed Mamoru's hand hastily as he started to cough while she spoke. "I promise," she added.

All her Senshi, the Shittenou and Helios nodded. And Mamoru did as well, though his heart was not really in it. He squeezed the Golden Crystal tightly as he and Sailor Moon got to their feet, and all of them prepared to teleport home.

"How was our Sailor separated from the Golden Crystal?" Mamoru asked as they gathered in a circle.

"That's," Artemis began to say.

"A very good question," Luna interrupted. "Unfortunately, its an answer we lost a long time ago."

Mamoru frowned. "That's a shame," he said, looking past them, and outside the circle, at Helios. "It could have helped us now."

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

Helios stared at the images of the two Lunar advisors in the face of Elysion's obelisk. Both look as conflicted as he felt. "I could sense those crystals resonating," Helios said to the two cats as their images wavered on the obelisk's face. "With Serenity awakened, in control of the Silver crystal, and the connection they already have…"

" _We knew it was only a matter of time,"_ Luna said. " _But they're dreaming of Earth's Sailors."_

" _Hence, why we need to tell them now_ ," Artemis insisted. His face appeared stern. " _Before it catches them by surprise."_

 _"But..."_ Luna protested. _"But that isn't something they should be distracted by now, not when we need them to be working together."_

"But they knew a bit of this in their past lives as well," Helios pointed out. "It did not stop them from loving each other."

" _They knew the bare bones of this… nothing like what they'll figure out if they dream of her and the others."_

 _"Exactly!"_ Artemis said. " _So we should tell them – or do you want to wait and see how long it takes them to dream of the Queen... every record says that those who receive visions always dream of their predecessors pivotal battles first. It's only a matter of time."_

"But they might not dream of The Queen at all," Helios said. "After all..."

All of them looked down.

"My King is already quite discouraged," Helios continued. "Let us wait," he petitioned Artemis. "At least until he believes in his own abilities a little more. The truth would only do him harm now."

" _And what will you do if he asks?"_ Artemis said. _"Mamoru Chiba is not a man to contently sit on a mystery. And,"_ he looked at Luna. " _You know Usagi will only accept the truth from you. She'll know if you attempt to keep her in the dark. She won't like it."_

Luna sighed, looking between the two of them. " _I don't want to hurt them. This will."_

Helios nodded. "I find that I agree." He sighed, standing. "Let us answer their questions," he said. "But as shortly as we can. If we must pretend to forget or not know certain details that will hardly seem suspicious." He saw Luna nodding at him, and Artemis still looking away. He pressed on. "They needn't bear the burden of the whole truth now."

 _"After this enemy is gone,"_ Luna said.

 _"And if they dream of what happened?"_ Artemis demanded. _"If those crystals see fit to show them the answers to their questions?"_

"You still assume it is even possible for them to see the final Sailor of Earth," Helios said. "And I don't believe that's so. Her connection to the Golden Crystal was destroyed long ago. Endymion dreamed of the others in his past life. He never mentioned her."Helios tapped his hand against the obelisk.

 _"But the Silver Crystal's involved now. We don't know how that changes things,"_ Artemis said. " _If you're wrong..."_

"If I'm wrong, then we must all remember a planet never gave a Sailor a vision they weren't ready for." Helios bowed his head. "And I, and those who follow my path have learnt the hard way several times that a planet always makes the right choice, if not the convenient one."

~ _AgeofAquarius~_

Mamoru meditated into Elysion to speak with Helios later on that day.

"Your Majesty," the High Priest of Elysion bowed his head as the King of Earth appeared before him.

The King, sighed, becoming more corporeal with each second. He'd improved quite a bit since the first time he'd contacted Helios for counsel. Still, he maintained a few reliable quirks.

"Is it even too much to call me Chiba-san, Helios?" Mamoru asked, stepping forwards as his body materialized in Elysion's courtyard.

Helios smiled as he rose to his feet. "Titles are not such bad things, Your Majesty," Helios maintained. "In fact I found that though they can go to some people's heads, for many they can be reminders of their responsibilities, and the standards they must hold themselves to." He nodded to Mamoru. "And for me, it is an acknowledgement of my respect for you. Rest assured, I promised you millennia ago never to give you respect you hadn't earned."

And he bowed low to the King of the Earth,

As he did, Helios felt the warm magic of the Golden Crystal watch over the cloister. Green sprouts began to peek up in the ash-filled flowerbeds to either side of the flagstone walkway. And when Helios rose, some of the flowers were in full bloom.

The King regarded them thoughtfully.

"Why can I do that," Mamoru asked. He looked up at Helios. "But not awaken my own planet?"

Helios sighed. And beckoned Mamoru over to the steps that led up onto the covered walk around the cloister. "You can do many things with that crystal that we deemed extraordinary," Helios said. "Things that, by the Silver Millennium, we had written off as legend." Mamoru sat heavily beside him, eyes on the crystal that floated above his palm. Helios wrung his hands together. "It chose you, when you were very young, stopped working for every other member of your family in fact. It made a wise choice."

Mamoru looked away.

"You doubt that, Your Majesty?"

"I wish you wouldn't call me that," Mamoru confided. "I hardly feel like a leader, Helios. I..." He scuffed his feet on the flagstones. "How can I be a King, chosen or not, if I cannot protect this world?"

Helios looked away. "It has been hard for the Earth, without her Sailor," he whispered. "But the Golden Crystal has been a staunch Ally of the monarchs since the second Sailor of the Earth created it."

Mamoru raised his eyebrows. "So that's who wrote these." And Helios jumped as he opened his hand between them, producing the black journal he had taken from Usagi's room. Mamoru flipped it open to a page book-marked with parchment. Helios gasped as he scanned right-to-left across the ancient characters. "Where did you find them," he demanded, reaching out to touch the burnt parchment and forgetting for a moment that it, like Mamoru, were not truly there. Helios fingers passed right through the journal.

"You know what these are then," Mamoru confirmed his guess. "A Sailor wrote them."

"Serenity Tana," yes, Helios said before he could catch himself.

"Serenity?"

Helios might have slapped his hand over his face except he did not want to be the advisor to give away that they were hiding something. He nodded. "An old title we used to give to distinguished individuals on Earth. It was always given to one deemed a Steward of Peace. Twas not awarded lightly. Serenity Tana was one of a few Senshi to earn the title." He leaned close to the parchment with her writing, curiosity getting the better of him. They had wondered where these were for so long!

"She was a great Senshi, then?" Mamoru asked.

"Arguably the greatest," Helios said. "If only for the great age she lived to and for how many battles she waged and won. Many sailors, our own and not were awarded it by the Earth, amongst other distinguished sorts." He cleared his throat. "As Serenity was also the Moon Queen's given name, we'd begun to call her Lady Tana, by your time."

Mamoru furrowed his brows, but shook his head, flipping through the journal to show Helios the rest of the four pieces of parchment, all burnt to some degree, pressed between the pages. "Usagi found these on the Moon," he said. "They were hoping you could read them… But I found I could read the writing too.

"I'm not surprised," Helios chuckled. "This was still the capital's language by your time. My father taught you to read off of other books Tana wrote – and she wrote many. Which, given how long she lived, was hardly surprising." He sighed. "They really found them… all those books…"

 _Books?_ Mamoru shook his head. "The ones I could read, it was only a stack of parchment.

Helios frowned. "Why it ought to be a lot more then that. My family's searched for those prophecies for millennia. There were surely whole books of them." He looked at Mamoru, "What ages are the prophecies you found written for?"

Mamoru raised an eyebrow. "Ages?"

"Yes. It was how we used to keep track of dates that stretched beyond a two thousand years. Astrological Ages." Helios waved at the parchment in the journal between them. "That journal's from Pisces. The parchment was written in Taurus or Aries depending how old Tana was when she wrote it. We're on the Aquarian Cusp now."

"We are!" Mamoru's eyes widened. "That must be why these were in here," he flipped through the journal. "These pieces of parchment… all mention the cusp. Queen Serenity would have hidden them in here." He sighed. "I can't read much, the burns have eaten away a lot of the writing."

"What is legible?" Helios hedged, squinting once more at the blurry projection of the journal.

"She talks a lot about how she wants to create the Golden Crystal," Mamoru said. He flipped to the third piece of parchment. Like this one. He read from right to left: "The Selens are the appropriate stewards. They maintain the integrity of my predecessor and will surely be the family of my successor as well. In their hands, I believe I can put us on a path that may affect the Aquarian Cusp positively, rather than negatively." He snapped the journal shut. "Her predecessor and successor. She's talking about the other Earth senshi then?"

"Y-yes," Helios said.

"That's interesting because I saw her predecessor in my dream the other night… and she looked a whole lot more like Usagi than me." He turned to Helios. "Which I believe means… my family are not the Selens," he looked down at the Golden Crystal. "So then why do I have this?"

 _You were always too sharp for your own good,_ Helios thought, gnawing on his lower lip. Perhaps they ought to have taken Artemis suggestion, because he surely could have used the Lunar advisors' long years of experience explaining things…

"Helios?" Mamoru prompted him.

"Well prophecies cannot account for all of a planet's politics," Helios said to Mamoru. "As well, she oversimplifies what the crystal ended up able to do. Anyone worthy could use it – and you have in this life and your last more than proved you are."

But Mamoru furrowed his brows. And Helios immediately knew he'd put his foot in his mouth. "If anyone worthy could use it," Mamoru said. "Why was it kept in my family? Where it couldn't do as much good? Or why did these," he waved the journal. "Selens not have it anymore. Surely they were all worthy if a senshi gave them the crystal?"

Helios sighed, looking up towards Elysion's false sky. "Forgive me," he said and turned to face Mamoru. "Twas not simply kept in your family, My King. The Golden Crystal was bound to your bloodline magically the day Sailor Earth was lost. And without the connection to Earth or to a strong star seed, they could not use it to its fullest potential – but you could." He insisted. "I know you could, My King," Helios grabbed his arm. "You were the beginning of Earth's solution. I am _sure."_

"How?"

"I… I don't know," Helios turned his gaze upwards. "I am only sure. You _must_ trust me when I say that crystal and you are bound by more than that daft curse,"

"Curse?"

 _Damnit._ Helios clenched his fists. "That didn't have the same connotation it does these days…" Helios tried.

"I think you're lying," Mamoru said gravely. "Helios: _Why_ was Earth's crystal cursed into my family? Why did our Sailor lose it?"

Helios hung his head. "Just before the Silver Millennium," he whispered. "There was a coup on Earth. Influenced by Metalia. Your ancestors upset the throne and took control from the previous monarchs."

"The Selens?" Mamoru asked.

"Yes," Helios confirmed. And a shiver ran up Mamoru's spine as the priest pressed his hands together in front of his face.

"But… how did the Sailor lose the crystal."

"I am getting to it," Helios said. He took a deep breath as he tried to find the best way to phrase it.

"Helios," Mamoru demanded.

"The Sailor of the time," Helios finally carried on, "Was the heir of the previous royals. And… fearing how she might take back the throne, the Monarch of the time captured her when she had defeated Metalia, and used magic to separate her from her power – the Golden Crystal." He gulped. "No one considered that they harmed the Earth herself until the decline in lifespan, and magic, and the Golden Crystal's power became evident. By that time, the original Queen who stole the crystal was dead. And the Moon Kingdom became a conveniently located enemy on whom Earth's people could blame their ills."

He watched Mamoru closely. He was staring at the Golden Crystal, which he had taken from around his neck. It rolled in his open palm.

"So… so my family are murderers, then?"

"No!" Helios protested. "Well… not your _parents,_ My King. Ten generations at least separate you from the events of that time. You _must_ remember that."

Mamoru stood, "But then how am I meant to wield this," he shook the Golden Crystal. "If it was _stolen_ for me."

"It was stolen in a time of fear and darkness," Helios said. "You had at least eight other cousins in your line as well as your mother who all tried to make that crystal work for them. And it would have taken them at least a decade of practice," he gestured to the flowers Mamoru had made sprout all over the garden. "To do anything as great as that. The Golden Crystal chose you," Helios repeated. "You must not let history weigh on you. You've got to see you were this planet's choice."

Mamoru looked away, towards the obelisk, then the false sky. He frowned. It looked liked the ground above was trembling.

Or perhaps that was something he felt, in his physical body, a shaking beneath his feet.

Mamoru shook his head. "The last Sailor of Earth," he began to ask, eyes going to the false sky over Elysion through which, though bright, the rock above was visible. He narrowed his eyes, cracks were fissuring through it. "What was her…"

His voice trailed off as the flagstones under his feet began to tremble. The cracks in the Earth above them widened. Elysion's whole bubble rocked, pitching Helios off his feet and causing Mamoru's projection to waver. The Earth all around them was shaking.

"The Sunspots!" Mamoru realized, coughing violently as he did. His projection wavered more, his spirit struggling to remain away from where his physical body meditated on the surface.

"They may be finished incubating in the core!" Helios said. He rushed to the obelisk, the small gem on his forehead shining. "I shall protect this place," he said as he put his hands on the Obelisk. The shield around Elysion glowed and the shaking of the temple around them ceased.

But Mamoru was still wavering, feeling an even more intense shaking around his body on the surface.

"Go!" Helios shouted; eyes closed as he poured his magic into Elysion's protections.

Mamoru nodded, turning his head as he heard a screech. He hovered into the air, staring outside Elysion's bubble as a group of shadows raced past, upwards…

 _The sunspots._ Mamoru followed them up, gasping as he returned to his body. He opened his eyes.

The Earth beneath him was rumbling, the grassy ground he'd been meditating on now a liquefied, muddy mess. He stood, bumping his head on the branch of the cherry tree behind him (which had sunk several inches into the ground).

The Earth beneath him buckled, and he grabbed the trunk of the cherry tree to keep standing.

"My King!" Kunzite grabbed his elbow to help steady him. He was already transformed, and his broadsword trembled in his hand in time with the shaking of the ground.

"This is more than an earthquake!" Mamoru shouted. He scanned across the park and pointed out the Chess Tower, where a beam of white light was streaming out of the Crystal point inside. "It's the sunspots."

"They might try to damage the Crystal Points!" Zoisite pointed out. "To weaken the shield."

"Then lets get beyond it so we can defend this one!" Mamoru ordered.

"Right!" Jadeite raced ahead of them, conjuring his jade-green fire to his hand. His cape whipped behind him.

"Hothead," Zoisite muttered, falling into step with Kunzite and Mamoru as they too ran across the park, Mamoru transforming mid-stride into Tuxedo Mask.

They reached the edge of the senshi's shield just before the protective bubble had completely formed, and stood in a line along the exposed side of the chess tower. Kunzite had time to spin his sword once before the screeches Mamoru had heard in Elysion rang through the air overhead. They looked northward.

The group of sunspots had emerged from the Earth and were hovering on the opposite side of the shield, all gathering together into one, giant shadow.

"Nephrite's said not to let these hit you," Kunzite warned.

"They can kick his ass," Zoisite added.

"We could kill it all together!" Jadeite insisted.

"I doubt it," Mamoru said. "Work together to keep them back if they get over here." He already had his communicator out. "If they can give the senshi trouble, I'm not sure how our powers will do."

On the other side of Juuban's shield, the giant mass of sunspots had begun generating an attack. Mamoru squinted to see what it was. He shivered

It was a swirling ball of black flower petals.

 _Rose petals…_

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

All across Juuban, the Senshi were alerted to the incoming attack via their communicators about ten seconds after the first tremor shook the ground.

Michiru was having lunch with several of her friends in the orchestra.

"Earthquake!" one of them gasped as the table of four got to their feet. Michiru fumbled for her mirror, pulling it from her bag and smoothing her hand across the opaque surface, willing away the spot of white light that had been flickering within it throughout the week. She concentrated on seeing the source of the quake.

Her communicator went off as she did. First with a warning and then with Mercury's voice.

" _Sunspots incoming,"_ Mercury announced. " _Two minutes."_

 _Faster than they moved the last time,_ Michiru thought as she dashed away from her friends at the table.

"Is this one of those enemies?" One of her friends called. She ignored them, dashing into an alley and transforming before leaping up onto the roof of the restaurant they'd been eating at, and then leaping to the taller building behind it. That roof was flat. She stood right on the edge of it.

" _It looks like a group of ten,"_ Mercury said.

" _Only ten!"_ Jupiter chuckled. " _Piece of cake after last time."_

"Don't assume," Neptune cautioned her teammates as she scanned her mirror. It focused on the neighbourhood just north of Juuban. "Considering the negative energy they've been feeding on, they could be more powerful."

" _30 seconds,"_ Mercury said. " _Shield's active."_

Michiru glanced at the Aqua Mirror, training it on the five Crystal Points. She watched as each 7 ft. silver obelisk glowed with cool, white light, which filled them and then shot upwards, five beams of energy she could see as she turned towards each corner of Juuban. They arced overhead, meeting in the center of the neighbourhood. From that point, a rainbow of light spread outwards, creating the protective, iridescent dome over Juuban.

" _Breaching ground at 25 degrees,"_ Mercury said.

" _Look towards Hikawa,"_ Venus clarified.

Michiru turned her gaze northeastward, narrowing her eyes as 10 sunspots shot up into the air outside the shield. They hovered close together just beyond it.

All around Juuban, the senshi watched as nine of the sunspots drew together – into a massive shadow, the crystal shards within invisible in the noon-time sunlight. The tenth sunspot shot backwards, hovering next to the larger one, which had begun to generate an attack.

With the Aqua Mirror, Michiru could clearly see the scale of the rose attack that was signature to all Earth's sunspots. It was at least twice the size of all the sunspots joined together: thousands of black flower petals swirling together quickly enough that a cyclone of wind gathered around them.

" _Not a fan of that,"_ Uranus voice crackled through the communicators.

" _Don't worry,"_ Sailor Moon said. " _It'll hold."_

When the rose-attack was three times as big as the multi-sunspot (and casting a large shadow over the city behind it) the group of their enemies screeched, and their attack shot forwards.

The giant attack rushed their barrier, wind and dark rose petals pummelling the shield. Around the attack point, the iridescent light was flickering.

Michiru tightened her grip on the mirror.

The tenth sunspot then raced forwards, slamming into the shield at the point where the attack hit.

It shrieked as it hit the barrier.

" _HA_!" Venus cheered over the communicator, as the shield incinerated the shadow and sapped the remaining energy out of the rose attack.

Under the light from the sun and the shield, something gleamed as it fell through the barrier where the sunspot had hit.

 _The crystal shard,_ Neptune's heart panged. She leapt across the street to the next roof, aiming for the part of Juuban the shard was falling towards.

" _Got it!_ " Sailor Moon shouted. And Neptune saw her soaring in from the direction of Makoto's bakery, reaching the shard hundreds of feet before it would have hit the ground.

" _They're moving,_ " Uranus voice warned. Overhead, the multi sunspot was splitting up, the nine that had comprised it darting off in five directions, towards all five of the crystal points. Three bore down on Hikawa, two towards the bakery, and two towards the destroyed supermarket. One each rushed towards the Southwest and West to Bob Floy's and the chess tower.

" _We've got the bakery covered,"_ Venus said.

" _I might need a little help,"_ Mars shouted.

" _You've got it!"_ Sailor Moon called. And from her spot on the roof, Neptune saw the airborne senshi teleport away. Seconds later her silver magic was lighting up the top of Hikawa's hill.

 _There's only one at the Chess tower and Bob Floys, Michiru thought. So we'll need to head for the supermarket._ She waited on the roof, turning towards those points. Pluto was usually quicker about picking she and Uranus up with the Time Doors.

 _What's going on?_ She asked Pluto, glancing at her mirror.

 _Sorry,_ Pluto thought back to her.

" _Don't worry Neptune,"_ Uranus said through the communicator. " _We've got it covered."_

In the mirror she could see both of them in front of the ruined supermarket, a World Shaking and a Dead Scream slamming into the sunspot and reducing its mass by half.

 _They're leaving me behind._ Neptune stared. Twitching her fingers on the handle of the mirror as she watched the sunspot counter Uranus and Pluto's next attack and send a powerful rain of thorns down on both of them. "You need _back up!"_ she fumed into the communicator. "I'll be there in five."

Over the communicator, she heard Uranus shout her next attack, and the sunspot screech in pain.

" _Love, remember when we said we could fight about this later,"_ Uranus hedged.

Neptune glared down at her communicator as she ran along the roofs. "You. Are. _Not_."

" _This is later,"_ Pluto confirmed.

Neptune was close enough now to see the still standing sign of the supermarket. Bright garnet and yellow attacks exploded together to the left of it. She checked her mirror. There was Uranus plucking a tiny shard of pink crystal off the ground as Pluto summoned the doors. A few moments later, she saw their attacks flashing in the Southwest, over Bob Floy's.

She turned. The bakery was calm. Hikawa was calm. And even though she could see activity near the Chess Tower, it was surely going to be moments before Sailor Moon or Venus teleported in and dealt with it handily.

Neptune lowered her mirror as a cold wind whipped past, staring across Juuban. She'd never be able to run all the way to the Chess Tower in time. Even then, what wasn't to say she wouldn't be trapped under the shield like all the plain, magic-less people it was designed the shelter?

 _They did it without me._

~ _AgeofAquarius~_

The sunspots seemed aware of their disadvantage from the start, far more evasive than they had been before the battle in April. They dodged and defended more than they blocked.

Only two managed to hit the crystal points, the second by slamming Zoisite through the side of the chess tower. And even this barely made the silver obelisk flicker.

But the enemy realized quickly which point was vulnerable. One each from Hikawa, the bakery, and the supermarket disappeared before the senshi on scene could hit them.

They reappeared at the same time right over the Shittenou, and Kunzite, Zoisite, and Mamoru paled as soon as they saw them.

Jadeite meanwhile turned red, charging forwards and throwing ball after ball of green flame at the line of advancing enemies. They absorbed the head-sized balls of fire like they were little more than sparks and send back barrages of thorns and rose petals that burnt and tore through the Shittenou and Tuxedo Mask's capes until Kunzite, with a powerful slash of his sword, beat the four enemies back.

"We can't even get a dent in them!" Jadeite fumed.

"A combined attack works for the scouts," Tuxedo Mask said. "I've got one we can try."

The three Shittenou nodded and ran behind him, putting one hand each on his shoulders.

"Tuxedo Smoking Bomber!" He shouted, drawing on all of their power as well. The Golden Crystal, now housed on a chain that hung just below the collar of his shirt, burned as the attack blasted from his hands. He trained his attack on the sunspot they had been fighting the longest. It tore through the enemy's half-conjured counter attack.

And reduced it by a third.

Kunzite swore.

"We don't have enough power to do that to each of these," Zoisite warned.

"Incoming!" Jadeite shouted, Jerking Tuxedo Mask back. His short sword and Kunzite's broad sword crossed in front of their King, and an epic shriek rebounded off the crossed blades as the attack slammed into them. Both Shittenou's knees shook as they dug their heals into the loose ground under their feet.

Tuxedo Mask clenched his fists.

" _Hang on!"_ Usagi's voice rang through Tuxedo Mask's communicator. "We're coming."

A moment later, Venus, Nephrite, and Jupiter appeared a few meters behind the sunspots, who scattered as they heard Jupiter's lightning sizzle.

"Oh no you don't!" Sailor Moon shouted as she appeared to their left with Mars.

Nephrite raised both hands. "Stellar Guardians!" He called, small balls of starlight appearing and spinning above his hands. "Surround."

Rather than hit the four sunspots, Tuxedo Mask saw, his knight who had been fighting with the senshi simply sent his attack racing ahead of them, corralling the sunspots back together.

Close enough for Sailor Moon's Therapy Kiss to hit three of the four at once.

A Dead Scream and World Shaking from a nearby tree took out the last sunspot, which had dove around Nephrite's defense.

"You guys alright?" Venus called as the senshi approached them, most now grinning.

"I am suddenly reassessing why past me would have agreed to let Metalia give me power," Zoisite muttered.

"We're fine," Tuxedo Mask said, stepping around his knights and detransforming. One of the crystal shards had fallen at his feet. He bent to pick it up: light blue. It was so small, the edge jagged where it had been forcibly split from the rest of its Sailor Crystal. Mamoru shuddered.

Sailor Moon appeared at his side, covering the shard with her hand. "I can take it," she said.

"Is there any way to heal them?" Mamoru asked.

But all the scouts present shook their heads.

Many, he could see, were holding other shards, none of the same color.

"But we can bring them to Hikawa," Rei announced. "I want to try to learn their names – it's the only way we can reach them."

"Just be careful," Venus muttered. She was looking around the group of them, checking each member of her team for injury. She paused on Uranus and Pluto. "Hey," she furrowed her brows. "Where's Neptune?"

Both of them blushed, a wave of guilt swamped her from Pluto.

Venus realized what they'd done. "Oh you two are in trouble…" She sighed and looked at Rei. "Can I stay at yours tonight?" she asked. "Paparazzi won't be near as bad as the baby drama."

Venus seemed to be right, for Michiru was waiting at Hikawa when they arrived, having tea on the porch with Rei's grandfather. She didn't even look when the whole group of them, in a flash, appeared in Hikawa's yard.

"Love?" Haruka hesitated, boldly stepping ahead of the others.

Michiru snapped her head towards her, looking and feeling decidedly irate. The other senshi stepped back several paces from Haruka and Setsuna, looking for an escape.

Michiru glared at her partners as the others slunk away towards the fire room. Haruka had her hands stuffed in her pockets and her head tilted down, looking at Michiru with wide eyes beneath her dark lashes and her fringe.

 _Oh do not thing that face is going to get you out of this!_ Michiru fumed. She flicked her glare towards Setsuna, who had hung back behind Haruka and was hiding behind her Garnet Rod. She chanced a glance at Michiru and looked away.

"It's a good thing I came here ahead of time isn't it?" Michiru whispered, forgetting it seemed about Grandpa Hino calmly sipping his tea behind her. "Were you going to leave me out of this too?"

"Of course not," Haruka blurted out. "We would have come and got you."

"It's just... you'd already made your way here," Setsuna whispered.

Michiru's nostrils flared. "My powers are working just fine!" she carried on. "You don't get to decide to shut me out while I can still be useful!"

"We didn't!" Setsuna protested. "We just..." Her shoulders slumped. "I decided we could handle things without you, so we did."

"Oh don't try to pin it on yourself," Haruka said, pulling her hands from her pockets. "I felt the same." She looked hesitantly up at Michiru's red face. "Michi there were just ten of them... We didn't have to risk you, and I didn't want to."

"And we agreed," Michiru carried on. "That I would fight as long as I could, if I agreed to stand behind you." She clenched her fists. "Being left too far from the fight to actually help is not the same thing."

Haruka looked away. Setsuna tightened her hands on the Garnet Rod.

"Now," Michiru said. "Do I get to find out what I missed? Or am I too fragile to be at meetings too?"

"We don't think you're fragile," Setsuna spoke up. "But the last time we fought these things you passed out."

"After five hours!"

"And before that," Haruka said. "You transformation failed when they slammed you into a building."

"Accidents happen!"

"We get scared," Setsuna pressed on. "Especially when you think about yourself last in any given situation." She braved looking Michiru in the eyes. "If something happened... you'd pin that on yourself too," she said.

Haruka nodded. "We're scared for you."

Michiru's glare did not waver. Though she was left struggling to find a retort.

Given her anger had been enough to send the other senshi scattering, it surprised all of them when Rei's stout, defense-less grandfather clapped Michiru on the shoulder.

"It is funny how love tends to have each other's best interest in mind," he said, "And that that is the thing love clashes over most often." He looked between the three of them, smirking ever so slightly at their stunned expressions. "In this case, perhaps admitting one's particular fragility would be a good starting point for compromise," He raised his eyebrows at Michiru. "After all, one must recognize that while defending others is noble, throwing one self needlessly at danger is quite a foolish tactic, indeed. I'm sure the guardian of an element so adaptable as the sea will be wise enough to recognize that." And he slipped away, seemingly unaware of the murderous glare being trained on his back. He meandered through the open door of the shrine residence and slid it shut. The clack of the door against the frame echoed across the still grounds.

Michiru huffed. "You still don't get to make my choices for me!" she snapped, striding along the porch towards the fire room.

The group of Senshi and Shittenou parted from the fire as they slipped into the room. The flames stretched two meters high towards the ceiling: illuminating the nine shards of crystal carefully placed along the side, and throwing off purple highlights from Rei's hair.

The priestess knelt dead center before the flames, with Usagi and Minako to either side of her. She reached out and touched her hand to the pink crystal shard in the center. " _This is_ _Procyon_ ," she whispered.

"They're all different colors," Michiru commented.

"Then it's learned from what happened last time," Haruka said, reaching for her hand.

Michiru stepped away, towards the flames. She was not done being mad at them.

"Means we're on to something though, doesn't it?" Makoto said, arms crossed as she stood off to Mina's side. "Put them back together, and it starts losing control."

The Shittenou nodded like they agreed. And Mamoru tilted his head as he considered the shards.

"How many more are there in the Earth?" he asked. "Is it just the rest of these ten?"

"It's hard to say," Setsuna whispered.

" _There's at least thirty within Mars,"_ Rei said.

They all frowned at her.

"How can you tell?" Usagi asked.

Rei didn't answer.

Mina's mouth pressed into a thin line as she squeezed Rei's shoulder. "Same way she knows how to talk to these," she whispered.

Rei had reached out towards a second crystal, the light blue one, " _Pollux,"_ she said after a moment, and moved her hand to hover over the dark blue one beside it. A few minutes later she sighed. "This one doesn't remember."

She moved to the next one in the line, a bright yellow that looked nearly-alive by the warm light of the flames. She meditated over it for a few minutes.

They jumped when she gasped. The Holy Fire flickered. Mina jerked Rei back and reached across her to cover Usagi as well. Despite her anger, Michiru scrambled back into Haruka and Setsuna.

Black shadows had formed behind each small shard of crystal, stretching out and filling their cores. Sailor Moon reached to grab the clear one closest to her before the shadow could fill it, and was stopped only by the combined effort of Mina and Mamoru keeping her back.

"We can't do anything," Rei whispered, fists clenched as she watched the shards of crystal vanish one after the other.

As the last winked away, Mamoru coughed, shoulders shaking from the force of his fit. Kunzite reached out to steady him by the arm.

"Think it's just sent them back into the Earth?" Haruka said, arm around Michiru's waist. "To recharge and hit us again?"

Mina nodded, frowning. She put a hand to her temple as she concentrated.

The emotions in the room had been making her head pound, but a fresh one seemed quite out of place.

Guilt. It was thick and palpable, and different from the same feeling she could feel simmering in Setsuna and Haruka. This guilt dug much deeper.

She scanned around the room, assessing her friends, finally settling her gaze on Mamoru. Her frown deepened.

 _It isn't even your fault,_ she thought.

"We'll keep an eye out for more of them," she promised him. "See if we can find a way to keep them from getting recaptured."

Mamoru shook his head. "It'll just send more of them into the Earth," he said. "And do more damage."

They sat in silence a few minutes, brooding over their circumstances, until the senshi's communicators chimed.

" _I've got some details about that earthquake,"_ Ami announced.

"Let me guess," Mina said. "It wasn't natural."

There was a pause.

 _"It's easier if you come to Command,"_ Ami said. " _It's something you need to see."_

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

 _The storm that whirled over the planet's pole looked almost serene so high above, and nothing like a normal storm: racing beneath the white surface of the clouds were ephemeral swirls in every color that appeared and vanished in the blink of an eye._

" _An enemy?" Mamoru murmured, stepping closer to the storm to get a better look, the tip of his bare foot cresting the edge of the black tile platform he was standing on._

" _No," Usagi replied, one of her feet mirroring his as she leaned over the edge too. "It's… I don't think it is." She tilted her head to the side. "It's kind of beautiful."_

 _The look of it still made Mamoru shiver. He grasped her hand. "That's not Earth," he determined. The planet below them looked too big, and was covered, beyond the far-reaching arms of this strange, polar storm, in swathes of mustard coloured clouds._

" _We're dreaming again," Usagi realized, squeezing Mamoru's hand._

 _They must have been – he looked away from the strange storm and the strange planet at the black tiles under his feet – part of some observation platform, of an equally black building. The whole structure gleamed like obsidian – reflecting the many stars Mamoru could see as he turned away from the planet._

" _I'd advice staying back from the edge," someone said (a man whose voice was peculiarly soft). "The Silence Cyclone's less docile than it appears."_

 _As he spoke, a beam of light shot without warning up into space. They scrambled back, along with several others who'd been standing close to the edge of the black tiles._

" _Do not fear it," A rougher, wizened voice called from behind them, they turned._

 _All around them the people gathered on the tile observation platform knelt, curtseyed, or bowed. One man in red offered up his sword to the three people approaching._

 _Or perhaps only one of them – for the diminutive woman who walked in the middle certainly stood out in her blue and white dress – a cool contrast to the gold habits of both tall figures on either side of her._

 _Another beam of energy split through the planet's atmosphere and grazed the side of the tile observation deck before fading to wisps of glitter. The entire spectacle did not make a single sound, but did corrode away several of the tiles. Mamoru and Usagi shivered, as did several of the people with them on the platform._

 _But the old woman in blue and white did not seem at all perturbed. In fact, a faint smile decorated her wrinkled, brown face. "Rest assured, it would never snatch undeserving victims with nary an omen or explanation." She walked ahead of the two habit-clad figures (who both bowed to her) and approached the open platform, nodding to each of the eight people around them._

 _Her vivid green eyes stopped on Mamoru and Usagi, seeming to stare right through them. They shivered. "It is calling for me alone."_

" _Serenity Tana," a woman directly on their left startled them as she rose from her bow. They had not seen her before. Her shoulder passed right through Usagi's when she stood and Usagi stepped back, bumping into Mamoru. So the old woman had not been staring at them at all, but this other person: With a small nose and blond hair gathered up in a single, long braid and wrapped around a golden crown. Usagi and Mamoru both stared. She looked like the Sailor in their dream._

 _And also looked very much like Usagi, right down to the petulant frown on her face._

" _Your Majesty," Tana smiled and walked up to her, bowing her head. "You decided to be here after all?"_

 _The blond Queen looked away. "Why do you have to do this?" she asked. "You've done so much for this star system – you deserve to live out your remaining days in peace like any other."_

 _Tana's shook her head and looked kindly on the young Queen. "I've lived longer than anyone you've ever known, and all of my predecessors besides – a few years more or less hardly matter to me." She looked past the Queen as another beam of energy slammed into the edge of the observation deck, arcing slightly towards those gathered there. "And as I explained before – it is my duty to ensure our worlds are protected while the next Guardian grows up – I gave up the ability to shield our worlds at will, with Earth's powers, when I created that," and she waved towards the lavender staff in the Queen's hand – with the golden crystal nestled atop it. "This planet, thankfully, can use the power I have within me, to make a shield just as strong as Earth's crystal can."_

" _Then take it back!" the Queen said, holding her staff out in her open palms. "Live the rest of your life, however much of it there is."_

 _Tana sighed. "Lena," she lectured. "Are you not the same young girl who once declared me the greatest seer there'd ever been?"_

 _The Queen, Lena looked away. "Even seers can do foolish things."_

 _An elderly pale man four people to their right huffed. "So can upstart young Queens," he muttered._

 _Lena glared at him, fuming: "I hardly think the ruler of a planet who's purportedly never_ had _a Guardian can tell my how to treat my own." She looked with wide, pleading eyes back at Tana. "You earned us the peace we enjoy now_ thousands _of times over. You should be allowed enjoy it as long as you can." She pushed the Golden Crystal's staff towards Tana. "Take it back."_

 _Tana covered Lena's hands with hers, and shook her head, curling the queen's fingers around the staff. "It is meant for you and your family to wield. It can keep Earth and all the worlds strong if there is ever a time when the Guardian can't… and it is necessary for the future that I want to come to pass." She levelled a sterner look at Lena. "When any one thing could tip the far future from the light to dark, there is no room for human concerns to create unnecessary risks."_

 _Lena looked away, and her shoulders slumped as she lowered her arms and returned the Golden Crystal's staff to her side. "It's not fair."_

 _And Tana chuckled, the warm sound echoing across the observation deck. "Lena, people have called my destiny many things – fair has never been one of them." She put her hand on the Queen's shoulder and squeezed it. "Keep my crystal," she said._

 _And her eyes flicked away from Lena, startling Mamoru and Usagi again as she stared right at them, even giving them a kind smile. "Good things will come out of having it."_

 _And she moved away, walking right past Mamoru and Usagi as she approached the platform's edge. Another beam of energy arched overhead blazing for several seconds before fading._

" _Impatient," Tana tutted, white heels grazing the Platform's perimeter as she looked down at the polar storm. "I know what needs to be done, there's no need for dramatics."_

 _In response, the storm produced another energy beam, one that struck the toes of Tana's shoes, which began to glitter as the light faded away. Mamoru and Usagi gasped. So did many of those around them. Tana's feet, where the light had struck them, and then the bottom of her dress were turning translucent, twinkling with golden sparks that appeared as her form began to fade._

 _Tana appeared unconcerned, stretching her arms over her head and looking up at the many stars. She sighed and closed her eyes. The golden crescent under her white fringe began to glow. "Earth Crystal Power."_

 _Mamoru felt the Golden Crystal grow hot against his chest, just as Queen Lena's Golden Crystal blazed brightly._

 _In a flash, Tana's long dress had become a sailor fuku: with a blue skirt, trimmed in gold, a blue collar with a single golden stripe, and dark green bows._

 _The specks of golden light had begun to twinkle through her arms and legs, the opacity fading steadily from them. It reached the hems of her skirt as they watched. The tiara on her head, with its gold gem, glowed as brightly as the polar storm far below them._

 _The Sailor turned and looked back at the people gathered at the edges of the platform: the two priests in their golden habits and the nine people lined up along the platform. All of them were kneeling once more. She signed something to the priests with her hands and then surveyed the rest of the people around her. "Take care of them," she said, and stepped off the observation platform's edge. Queen Lena let out the same small gasp as Usagi as the Sailor dove down towards the storm, the Silence Cyclone. Its clouds had begun to spin noticeably faster, more and more wisps of light racing through them._

 _When the Sailor was halfway between the observation deck and the pole, another beam of energy shot out of the storm. It wrapped around her as she spun, and slowly, the mostly white beam of energy filled with the same golden light from the Sailor's tiara. When the gold color had begun to stream into the storm clouds below, the energy beam rushed back into the pole._

 _All was silent for a moment._

 _Then, with a great chime, the planet below them glowed gold, and among the stars overhead, eight other golden lights appeared, some small and some large._

 _Mamoru and Usagi stared as these then turned to a rainbow of colors: from blue, to burnt orange, to a pale lavender light that filled the planet below them. This light grew too bright to look at as the two of them, and all those watching turned away from the great planet_

 _Towards the other lights, and the space beyond them, where a shield just like the one they'd created in Juuban was filling the sky, a bright barrier between the perils of space and the solar system protected within it…_

 _~AgeofAquarius~_

Tuxedo Mask's feet slapped against the concrete roof of the tower he leapt onto, and he ran right off the edge, falling and landing on the building across the street with ease. This had a brick wall along the rooftop and the brick he landed on was particularly scuffed and dirty: a testament to how many times over six years he had run this very route. There were roofs, close to his college apartment, where the stone and brick had been eroded to a curve by how often his feet had scrapped across the edges.

The air was humid tonight: it clung to his skin in a way that recalled the thicker, hotter air coming in the summer, and certainly spoke to the rain that would be falling in the next twelve hours, accompanied, he could tell, by a smattering of lightning and thunder.

Usagi had once asked if this were power of his: teasing that perhaps his joints ached like an old man's when it was going to rain.

No, not magic as far as he could tell. He'd just always paid close enough attention to his home's habits to know.

Tuxedo Mask ran all the way to his high school apartment in the next district, were dreams of Serenity had first driven him up to the rooftops and into the locked store rooms of Tokyo's jewelry stores. He lingered on that roof for an indeterminately long time, gazing up at the half-moon.

Eventually he sighed. Unlike years gone, his wanderings failed to settle the restlessness his dreams left with him, and investigating random crimes and jewellery stores was not going to satisfy the questions that plagued him.

A coughing fit beset him as he finally stood, and Tuxedo Mask stumbled on the roof of the apartment building. The concrete and steel under his hands shook as a tremor echoed up through the ground.

It continued a full five minutes, knocking over two of the building's satellite dishes. And aftershocks rattled the windows and doors of the buildings he jogged across for a half hour after he moved on from the roof.

 _I wonder how far reaching that one was,_ he thought. _How bad could they get?_ The last few tremors, Ami had said at the meeting today, had affected in some way or another, everything within twenty-two kilometres of a fault-line. They were barely noticeable, in most cases.

 _But they're becoming more frequent,_ she'd said. _And stretching farther afield each time._ And she'd suggested, too, that some infrared scans were picking up new fault lines fissuring open out of some of the world's trenches.

" _They're contained to the lithosphere,"_ she'd assured them. " _For now."_

That wasn't all either: indicators across the globe were picking up on a pattern of anomalous weather signs, ones that tracked in one way or the other, back to the beginning of March, confirming the senshi's guess, at least in Ami's mind, that this was when the sunspots had first entered the Earth.

" _It's possible we're seeing all this now because they're trying to increase their power,"_ Ami'd speculated. " _Or because the negative emotions we're seeing in the general population are feeding into other negative effects."_

 _And what happens if this keeps going too long?_ Tuxedo Mask thought as his feet ran back towards central Juuban, rerouting several times around buildings damaged in the sunspots last major offensive.

Setsuna had asked Ami to simulate just that. And that risk analysis was being generated by the Lunar computer even now, a few kilometers south of where Tuxedo Mask was currently running along the roofs.

" _We need to be prepared for worst-case scenarios,"_ Mina had said.

But none of them could (or perhaps would) tell him what they thought the worst-case scenario was.

He wheezed as he ran, slowing to a jog to account for his weakened lungs.

 _If this is how the Earth feels,_ Mamoru thought, _And only ten of them have re-emerged so far…_

His speculations trailed off as he reached the center of Juuban, and he stopped on the edge of a department store roof, staring at what remained of his old favorite perch.

The peak of the TV tower was gone now, and the damaged bottom still rooted in the ground was a shocking sight. He'd seen it in the daylight. But now, with all the lights in the tower gone out and only the lower street lamps encircling it, it resembled a ghastly metal carcass. A center piece of further destruction: all along the street, windows were still boarded up after April's attack; trees had been removed, damaged beyond repair; and the top of the TV tower was now the warped and twisted metal frame that formed the scaffold around its first floor. The second on up had been blasted away.

Tuxedo Mask sighed, sitting down on the roof's edge and slumping his shoulders

No wonder so much anger had turned against the senshi.

 _People are afraid,_ he thought, fists clenching.

Absently, his hand went to his left pocket, where the four pages he'd slipped out of Queen Serenity's journal had been carefully sealed in plastic and folded. The plastic, like the journal the Moon Queen had hidden them in, kept anymore of the burnt sides from crumbling away.

Tuxedo Mask held the parchment under the Golden Crystal's light, going over the scraps of writing again, as he had every day since finding them. He'd nearly memorized them by now.

The first was only a date and picture (all else had crumbled away) and he knew exactly why it had been hidden in the journal: for it depicted Princess Serenity's suicide, detailed enough that he could distinguish the exact blade with which she'd ended her life.

Usagi had told him of her childhood disappointment when her mother had not bequeathed her the ancient sword. Mamoru knew, looking at this, why Queen Serenity must have resisted such.

So she had known the end was coming. And she had perhaps tried to take precautions against it.

The second page detailed how the picture on the other page was a necessary event. He stared at the writing, a neat, narrow script:

 _This shall be one of my successors' ends,_ it read _. I feel for certain. It is curious. This is surely my direct successor, so very clear to me. And yet... it is not. Then again, I have seen her end in so many ways, I am unsure if this is a permanent one. I shall go to Pluto. Perhaps the sands will lend this event further clarity. It must happen, that's a certainty, to have any chance of the Aquarian Cusp ending without disa..._

Disaster must have been the next word. But that was where the page had been burnt away, a full half of it gone.

The next page spoke of the Aquarian Cusp, their present time, again. The date Mamoru could see in the un-burnt corner was much earlier than the other:

 _We can't let it into the Solar system,_ the old sailor, Tana had written in a far more hasty scrawl than the deliberate writing on the other page. _Whomsoever's time it is, Mars perhaps, or Jupiter by then… steps must be taken to provide a system-wide defense, regardless of how old or how powerful the Cusp's Guardian is._

Necessary steps, Mamoru thought back with a shiver to his dream. He knew what that must refer to now: Tana had ended her life and used it to shield the entire Solar System.

 _Did she mean this enemy_? he thought. _Did we fail to keep it back?_

The middle of the page was too blackened and cracked to read. The bottom though...

 _I must find a way to make my planet more powerful if this evil does breach our worlds. What if it should enter our realms when the Guardian of the day is barely on her own two feet? Or what if, as my dream suggests, the system wide protection fails? They must have a ready way to access their full extent of their powers._

The Golden Crystal then, Mamoru regarded it, a solution to their ills, now in his hands.

 _And I can hardly use the full extent of its powers..._

The third page spoke of the Golden Crystal, and it was this one that he had looked at most the past few days.

 _The Selens' are the appropriate stewards,_ Tana had written _. They maintain the integrity of my predecessor and will surely be the family of my successor as well. In their hands, I believe I can put us on a path that may affect the Aquarian Cusp positively, rather than negatively._

 _I feel certain that this crystal is the right course. Mars' warnings are shortsighted._

 _It will lead to a stronger Guardian than me. Earth, I suppose. I wish I could see more clearly. Everything gets so vague past 5,000 years on. In last night's dream, for instance, the Guardian looked..._

Mamoru strained as he had several times to see the writing under the char marks, holding the Golden Crystal beneath the paper until his eyes watered – to no avail. He could see no more of the writing.

He turned to the fourth and final page he had found in the journal.

 _This is not an ideal circumstance at all. I do not like how likely the sands suggest it is that we will be so largely unprotected, perilously close to the Aquarian Cusp. I don't know if this is a path I should be starting us down, as I surely am, by creating this crystal. Oughtn't I take a less risky route…_

 _No. I may not have the connection to the sands that the Guardians of Pluto have, but I know this is the right course. It's hard to explain my own intuition. Even to my fellow Earthlings._

 _I just feel that creating this Crystal is the right course. It surely leads to a stronger Earth, and a stronger Guardian than me... how the planet shines in my dreams… Tis a vision I wish I could see in my life._

 _And maybe that Guardian is the solution to the danger at the Cusp that I fear so much._

 _The precautions laid out herein are the best that I and Sol's other scholars can think of to bar the evil approaching on the Aquarian Cusp. And they should be taken long before Pisces draws to a close._

Mamoru sighed. Whatever had come after was missing. Perhaps burnt long ago. Even sifting through the entire stack of parchment at Usagi's had not got him anything that matching these burnt pages.

And it was the last of the pages Serenity had hidden in her journal.

A breeze ruffled his hair and cape and he sighed, coughing as the humidity tickled his sensitive lungs.

Beneath him the building rumbled and he clenched his fist around the Golden Crystal.

 _If there was meant to be a stronger Sailor Earth by the Cusp,_ _then Tana's visions must not have been so reliable,_ he thought.

But then, why had it seemed that Queen Serenity (whom he felt sure had been wise) put such faith in them?

The answers would not come to him no matter how long he stared at the burnt pages, or up at the half moon.

Eventually, he jogged back to the Tsukinos, walking along the tops of the garden walls of Usagi's neighbors.

He stopped across the street from her home. There was someone else out tonight, huddled on the Tsukinos' roof. Her knees, in her turquoise pajamas, were curled up near her chest and her pink hair was washed in silver by the moonlight.

Chibiusa smiled and waved when she saw him walk into the yard, and made space on the roof beside her. Tuxedo Mask leapt up, ruffling her pink hair as he knelt next to her.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" he nagged Chibiusa.

"I was," she whined, sticking out her tongue. "Shouldn't you?"

He laughed. "I don't have school in the morning," he chided. But he made no further attempt to order her back to bed. Rather, he sat down on the roof and let her lean against him, putting his arm around her as they watched the Moon together.

"Why are awake?" he asked Chibiusa.

She was quiet.

"Bad dream?" he guessed.

She nodded. "Bad vision," she whispered. "I get those now."

He closed his eyes, hearing her describe the nightmare of destruction that had plagued him, with increased frequency, since March: of the ground dying and splitting apart, the sky turning red, the sea freezing over...

She might have looked and acted very much like Usagi. But clearly in ability at least, she'd inherited more from him than he'd have liked.

 _Or she really does have Earth's powers,_ he thought, considering whether visions were a common power of his world, for it seemed the second Sailor of Earth had had years worth of them.

"How long have you gotten visions?" Tuxedo Mask asked Chibiusa.

"A couple times," she said. "When Galaxia hurt you... I had one. And now..." she shivered. "This one won't happen, right?"

Mamoru bit his lip, wishing he had the ability to lie and promise yes, it would be alright.

 _She'd know as well as you do you were lying,_ he thought. _And she'd hate being lied to._

"I don't know, Chibiusa," he confessed. "I think... we'll have to learn more about our enemy and then we'll know how to stop that."

He trailed off as the tiles on the roof began to tremble: another small quake rolling through.

It was the sunspots for sure. How soon would the rest of them wake up? How powerful would they be?

As another small tremor followed the first, and quickly subsided, Chibiusa shuddered next to him.

"It'll be..." fine, he was about to say, and trailed off, staring at Chibiusa's feet.

They were flickering: her toes became little more than golden sparks as her form turned translucent, flickering between corporeal and non. Her hands after a few moments, took on the same appearance.

Mamoru reached for her fading left hand and grabbed hold of it, sighing in relieve when his hand did not pass through hers. He clasped it as he had when the Death Busters had nearly killed her, willing some of his energy into her.

At last, her hands and feet returned to normal, Mamoru sighed, kissing the top of her head.

"Are you alright, Chibiusa?" he asked.

"Yep," she said quickly, tucking her hands under her arms. "J-just fine."

Mamoru did not believe her one bit, but did notice she appeared quite calm, as opposed to he, whose heart beat like a drum in his throat. "That's happened before hasn't it?" he asked. (For why else would she be so calm?)

His daughter shrugged.

"Chibiusa," he warned.

"Yes," she confessed. "But... but it's not that bad..." she insisted. "I-it only happens sometimes."

"Sometimes is concerning enough... it looked like you were disappearing." He paused. "Were you?"

"Sort of," Chibiusa squeaked, curling her feet beneath her and stuffing her hands further under her arms.

"Why?" he asked. "Have you been in the past too long?"

She shook her head, looking down into the garden.

Mamoru moved, shuffling to a lower spot on the roof so he could look at her face. She was biting her lip.

"Chibiusa," Mamoru said.

She raised her eyes to look at him crouched patiently on the roof, with the same face her father gave her when he knew that things were not okay and wanted her to know she could trust him.

Her father who was a thousand years away from her…

Chibiusa hiccupped. Her eyes watered. "Don't tell Mama," she cried. "I don't want her to worry."

"I won't," Mamoru promised, holding out his pinky finger.

Her lower lip trembled. And she leaned towards him, pressing her face into his suit collar.

"I can't go home," she confessed. "My Time Key stopped working." She sniffed. "And I don't know why I'm disappearing... I just want all this to stop."

Mamoru sat stunned, holding her close and tucking his chin atop her head. "It's okay," he stammered out as she cried into his shirt. "We'll fix this, Chibiusa."

His daughter nodded, pulling away and staring at her hands, flexing them. They were truly solid once more. "Don't tell Mama," she repeated. "Or Puu." She stared at him. "Please don't tell Puu," she bit her lip. "She'll think it's her fault... but I bet it's mine."

"No," Mamoru assured her, pulling her close. "It's not your fault." he stared up at the Moon, frowning.

 _The Golden Crystal will lead to a stronger Guardian than me,_ the long-ago Sailor of his world had said. Had she thought that sailor could help them now?

 _But my family stole the Crystal,_ Mamoru thought with a pang. _So what happened to the future she envisioned?_

Chibiusa hiccupped against him.

"It isn't your fault," he told her again. He sighed. "There's a lot more going on than that..."

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

Mamoru watched from the edge of the trees as Chibiusa raced past, laughing as she stretched her hand out to tag Hotaru.

"You're it! Rini!" She dashed off. And Hotaru turned round, spotting Kara and Shingo crouched by the jungle gym and darting towards them.

Farther off, standing where Mamoru was out of her sightline was Hikari Aino, observing her daughter and her friends with a shrewd eye. She surely didn't like that they'd found Chibiusa and Shingo at the park. Mamoru could only wonder what she's do if she learned "Rini Meioh" from the Initiative meeting was really Hotaru Tomoe.

He heard the whisper of soft footsteps walking through the grass, and another person emerged at the edge of his vision, leaning against the opposite tree as she too watched the children play.

"Hikari's seen you," Setsuna said. "I've told her you're Shingo and Chibiusa's cousin, and that you're not too comfortable with the Sailor Senshi."

He chuckled.

"She might be more keen to let the four of them play together if you went and introduced yourself," Setsuna suggested.

"As Mamoru Tsukino?" he asked and immediately felt his face get hot.

"Well you could also have claimed to be Ikuko's nephew, but if you like the sound of that alias," Setsuna shook her head, smirking. "Never mind."

"Is Kara Aino important to the future then?"

Setsuna sighed. "Not everything I do has to be about the future, you know."

"I never meant it like that," Mamoru said earnestly. "And it wouldn't be a bad thing if it were true either. I really value how you can be here to guide us, Setsuna."

Setsuna smiled brightly and looked back at the children. "I want her to be important," she confessed. "Whether as Hotaru's friend or as the family Mina can hold on to in the end." She made a face. "And besides that, I dislike when parents pressure their children to think and act a certain way, and don't let them decide what they think." She nodded towards Hikari across the park. "Kara wants to be friends with Hotaru, Chibiusa, and Shingo for herself. I'm going to make sure Mrs. Aino doesn't see a need to stop that."

Mamoru smiled. "I'll head over and speak to her in a minute." Then he sighed, looking down at his hands crossed over his arms. "Chibiusa says her time key is not working." He turned to Setsuna who was staring staunchly away. "What does that mean?"

Setsuna bit her lip. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I tried to send her back... It was too late."

But Mamoru shook his head. "That's not your fault at all." he looked towards the children, ducking and weaving around the playground. "I just want to know how concerned we need to be."

Setsuna glanced at him and looked away. He looked too much like his older-self. And five hundred years as King Endymion's advisor and confidante made her feel quite guilty letting any version him down.

"Setsuna," he prompted her.

She really did not deserve the softness and concern in his voice. Not with the explanation she had for him. "At the start of all this," Setsuna began. "The path to Crystal Tokyo was lost." She curled her arms tightly around herself as she heard him turn away from the tree he leaned on. She focused her eyes on the ground. She had kept this under wraps for most of the past few months. Not even Uranus and Neptune were aware how uncertain the future was. "As the Time Key can only travel to pasts and futures that are solidly linked, it means Chibiusa, for now, is stuck in our time. But Your Majesty –"

He jumped to hear her address him so. And the way she bowed her head to him was even more distressing.

"I swear," Setsuna said, "I can get us back to Chibiusa's future." She bowed her head lower. "I will not fail you."

 _It's hardly you who's at fault,_ Mamoru thought.

He startled her when he put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't," he said, shaking his head as Setsuna looked up. "Don't put that weight on your shoulders. Y-you're too hard on yourself Setsuna." he chuckled nervously. "And stop bowing to me; you're by far the wisest of the lot of us."

She smiled a little (as slightly as he was) and they both turned when they heard Shingo and Kara laugh. Hotaru had tackled Chibiusa into the mud.

"Has the future already changed then?" Mamoru hedged.

"Hard to say," Setsuna furrowed her brows, for she had been pondering this for quite a while already. "Small alterations to Chibiusa's timeline have been made in the past." she clenched her fists. "One of them by me," she confessed.

"Then it must have been for the best of reasons," Mamoru told her. "You never do anything that isn't for the best."

Setsuna nodded. "I thought so at the time too." she looked at him. "And normally one alteration is hardly enough to shift a greater course of events..."

Under their feet, they both stiffened, a tremor raced past. They prepared to transform.

But their communicators remained silent, and none of the children, nor anyone else at the park appeared to feel the tremor.

"The quakes," Mamoru whispered.

"And the strange weather patterns, the public outcry..." Setsuna added "I can't recall if that's part of her original timeline or not."

"Are the sunspots?"

Setsuna shook her head. "I don't know." She looked up. "But I must conclude that something was meaningfully different from her timeline, and perhaps allowed our current enemy to appear here or else… Why would it have vanished?"

Mamoru bit his lip. "How does it work?" he asked. "When something changes, do you sense it right away or,"

"No," Setsuna answered. "It's very rare to catch a change as it happens, even a large one, but I'll notice the effects later. Like... ripples, or shifts in the balance of the universe. I can, given time, trace them to their source event." She shook her head. "But an event that alters a timeline is far less noticeable than the result. And the result may not appear for years or decades,"

"Even millennia."

"Precisely." Setsuna sighed. "This enemy being beyond my sight, however it manages such, complicates that further." She shook her head. "For now... I won't be worried until Chibiusa is worried." She turned to him and put her hand over her heart. "And I promise, I will ensure Chibiusa's future happens, Your... Mamoru," she amended.

Mamoru looked at her solemn expression and turned towards Chibiusa, still laughing on the playground.

 _Don't tell Puu._

Mamoru swallowed the lump in his throat and said to Setsuna: "I will as well."

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

 _What if a change happened a long time ago,_ Mamoru thought that night as he sat on the Tsukino's couch, Chibiusa sleeping against his side. He covered her head with one hand. In the other, he held a piece of the burnt parchment, brooding over the prophecy there, of a stronger Sailor Earth, which had clearly not come to pass.

 _What if my family changed the future when they stole the Golden Crystal?_ he shivered.

 _I never saw my future-self use it,_ Mamoru recalled. _Did he have it by then? Had he ever?_

Chibiusa shivered against him, her arms cinched tighter around him. Perhaps having a vision. Mamoru combed his fingers through her hair.

 _People in her time live so long... is there magic in her Crystal Tokyo too, the kind Helios says Earth doesn't have anymore?_

He sighed, replacing the piece of parchment in his chest pocket and taking out another.

 _The precautions laid out herein are the best that I and Sol's other scholars can think of to bar the evil approaching on the Aquarian Cusp. And they should be taken long before Pisces draws to a close._

She meant this, Mamoru knew. _She wanted us to prevent this... and now the danger is here and we have no stronger Earth senshi like she wanted._ _And besides… will we be powerful enough to defeat this without all nine worlds?_

"Mamo-chan?"

He stuffed the parchment into his sleeve and turned round. Usagi was leaning in the doorway in her pink robe, with a pink towel around her hair.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, lifting Chibiusa as he stood from the couch.

It was an easy task tucking her in tonight. She didn't even stir. And Mamoru used the excuse of getting ready for bed to carefully hide the parchment he'd taken in the inner pocket of his jacket. He padded in slippers back to Usagi's room.

She was leaning over her desk when he returned, staring at the unreadable, encoded pages of one of her mother's black journals. There was no more burnt parchment tucked into this one, Mamoru saw disappointed as he drew near. He'd been hoping there were other pages concealed away from the rest that might assuage some of his concerns.

Usagi was staring intently at the pages of one journal, as if she might understand it if she could only look hard enough. Mamoru set down his clothes and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and tucking her head under his chin.

"What do you want to find in there?" he asked her.

Usagi sighed. "Everything." she leaned against him, curling her hands around his arm. "Who she was on Earth... whether she knew how to beat this..." Usagi chuckled. "Who she loved... because she must have. I remember it was the only thing I ever said that made her cry."

Mamoru squeezed her. "Your father?" he asked, kissing her hair. She smelled like strawberries... like happiness.

She shook her head. "I didn't have one," she said. "I think I believe her about that." She brushed her fingers over the open journal, flipping back to a different page. She'd folded the corner of it, Mamoru saw. And from the tearstains on the right side he realized she must have looked at this particular page quite a lot.

It was no wonder why. Though he couldn't read it, the same pattern of characters was repeated all over the page, scrawled in different styles and encircled by hand-drawn hearts.

He squeezed her tighter when a fresh tear splashed onto the page.

"I used to think I was made like Aphrodite," Usagi confessed. "But when I found this... I just couldn't stop wondering." She sniffed. "Did my mother have someone I don't remember... She only ever said I didn't have a dad, but maybe she was like Haruka-chan and Michiru... maybe I had another mom..."

"Maybe," Mamoru murmured.

"And it's silly." Usagi sniffed again. "With everything else we're worried about for me to get hung up on this too."

"But this _is_ important," Mamoru said. "Even if it's just to you." he leaned down and kissed her temple. "I'm sure you'll find out given time." Then he frowned, realizing there was something she's mentioned he didn't understand. "How was Aphrodite made?"

Usagi giggled, turning in his arms. "Well that's the question of the millennium." he saw the tears on her face and held her to his chest so she could dry her face on his nightshirt.

"No one was ever sure about Aphrodite," Usagi said. "Apparently her Mom wished on Venus' magical point for months... and then one day saw a comet crash into the sea... and Aphrodite washed up on the shore with Venus sigil," she said. "Good thing she had it too cause she had weird hair and eyes for Venus. They'd never have believed she was a senshi otherwise."

"Really," Mamoru began to chuckle, but his laugh died quickly, "Weird eyes and hair," he mused pensively.

"Mhmm," Usagi confirmed, resting her head over his heart. "And the wings... no one on Venus had heard or seen anything like her before."

 _Chibiusa has strange eyes and hair,_ Mamoru mused. _Did she appear from the planet too?_

"Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked. He felt tense.

"Just tired," he said, leaning down and kissing her before she could ask about it. "Come on," he told her. "Let's go to bed."

~ _AgeofAquarius~_

 _They gasped at the size of the sun outside the wide windows. It covered nearly all of the space they could see. And they were close enough to see bright solar flares rolling across the surface._

 _"Are you sure about this?" A woman's low voice said. Their voice. So they were seeing through someone's eyes this time, just like the first dream..._

The last Sailor Earth? _Usagi and Mamoru wondered together._

 _"I am."_

 _They gasped at the sound of the familiar voice to their right. The person whose vision they shared turned, and they confirmed the identity of the person beside them._

 _Queen Serenity: Far younger than they'd ever seen her. But she was unmistakable. Blond-haired as she was in this memory, she might have been Usagi's twin, save for her eyes._

 _They were red. Usagi found that puzzling. She recalled her mothers eyes being light blue._

 _She was not dressed in her royal regalia either. Rather, she wore the same golden habit as the priests in their previous dream._

 _"But, Serenity," the woman with her said._

 _They watched the Queen reach out, linking her arm with her companion. She stared towards the sun through shaded glasses. "They need the Guardian's powers," Serenity said. "And I lost them."_

 _"You never did," her companion scoffed. "In fact – let's go back. Why, I'll go down to Earth myself. I'll get your Crystal back. Then you won't have to..."_

 _Queen Serenity had pressed her finger over their lips. She was shaking her head. "Don't even think of it – Portia's too dangerous."_

 _"Puh-lease. I can take her," The woman insisted._

 _"I'm sure… but the Golden Crystal won't work for me anymore besides."_

 _She turned, putting her hand on the metal console in front of her (a space ship's controls). Mamoru and Usagi noticed, for the first time, the red warning lights flashing all over it, and how the metal looked vivid orange so close to the sun._

 _"I can do this," Queen Serenity said. "If we have any hope of saving everyone, then I have to make things right."_

 _They heard her companion sigh. She scanned her eyes over the flashing monitors along the console. "Might as well get on with it," she said in a thicker voice. "Ship can't get much closer."_

 _Queen Serenity nodded and turned, leading her companion by the hand down a narrow metal staircase and into the hull of the small spacecraft, where a chariot and two grey unicorns waited, already prepared for a journey. They pranced nervously as red lights flashed all around the small room._

 _Soon the two were opening the wide bay doors at the back of the ship, sailing out into space towards the blazing star so close that they squinted behind their protective glasses. Watching this memory, Mamoru and Usagi could not tell if it were their heart thundering too fast in their chest, or the person whose eyes they saw Serenity through._

 _Whoever they were flew the chariot steadily, into such a close orbit with the sun that they could see nothing except its blazing, blinding surface. against it, Serenity was little more than a silhouette. Everything was cast in a harsh contrast of blinding white and lightless shadow._

 _But they could easily see as Serenity obstructed the sunlight, climbing up onto the thin side of the craft._

 _Her companion launched forwards. "Wait!"_

 _Queen Serenity turned, only the side of her face visible in the harsh sunlight._

 _Her companion grabbed her hand._

 _"On Jupiter," she said. "We have…_ _Many customs."_

 _Above them, Serenity nodded._

" _And specifically, regarding war…you know we don't like to promise things… not when we're unsure whether we'll live to carry them out." Serenity's companion stepped closer to her perch on the Chariot's edge. "There's also some things… we do not say during war, not for the first time especially. There is a sense that with death looming so close, sentiments mean less… To that point, there's something I've wanted to say to you, but could not when the battles around us were so constant. So please come back to me, because there's something I'm very impatient to say to you." And the woman lifted Queen Serenity's hand to her lips, kissing it. "Do you understand?"_

 _Serenity's wide grin was evident even in the slim crescent of light that lit her face. She squeezed the woman's hand._ _"I understand. When this is over… there's something I should probably say to you in return."_

 _And then she stepped back, slipping over the edge of the chariot. They darted forwards, straining over the side as they watched her fall towards the sun's fires. It lit the edges of her golden robe aflame and then her shoulder length blond hair._

 _And then it swallowed her, leaving no trace of her silhouette against the unforgiving light of the star._

 _"Serenity!"_

Usagi and Mamoru screamed as they woke from this dream.

Mamoru clutched his head.

Usagi covered her mouth." _Mommy,_ " she whimpered, curling into a tight ball under the covers.

That drew Mamoru's attention away from his own dark thoughts, and he shuffled close to her, wrapping both arms around Usagi's shaking frame.

"She lived through that," he reminded her. "So clearly she succeeded at whatever it was brought her there."

"But what was that?" Usagi cried. "Wh-when was that? Who was that? How did we even see that?" She sniffed. "Was my _mother_ Sailor Earth?" she rubbed her eyes and looked at Mamoru. "That's what this means, isn't it?"

He could only nod; he could think of no other reason (especially as this dream had made the Golden Crystal burn against his chest just like the others).

Usagi curled closer to him, hiding her face in his shoulder. "Who was with her Mamo-chan?" She asked after she'd run out of tears.

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know." he stared up at the ceiling of her room, and the glow in the dark stars that made spirals over her bed. "Maybe we'll dream of them again."

Usagi sighed, and he pulled the two of them back onto the pillows, rubbing her back until she fell back to sleep.

He kept staring at the stars on the ceiling, without the distraction of comforting her, his own thoughts came back to plague him.

 _Serenity lost the Golden Crystal..._ Mamoru thought. _So then, then I stole this from your mother… from you._

Tana's prophecies had speculated about a stronger Sailor Earth. Usagi was without a doubt the most fitting candidate.

 _If you'd had the Gold and Silver crystals how different would the world be right now?_ He wondered. _Would Metalia have destroyed anything at all?_

Perhaps she would have. Usagi's only been fifteen at the time.

 _But we definitely could have awakened the Earth now_ , Mamoru thought. _Instead all we've got is me…_

Eventually fatigue closed his eyes for him, and as he fell back to sleep, the Golden Crystal seemed to burn in his mind.

What would the Sailors of Earth have done with it now?

 _I have to make things right._

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

"Oh!" Usagi squealed, eyes riveted on the clasped hands of the two combatants trying to pin each other's arm to the counter. "She's going to win…!"

Makoto grinned, flashing all her teeth at Nephrite as his arm slipped a bit more towards the counter. "Should we change it to best three out of five?" She taunted."

Nephrite chuckled, his teeth gritted, and pushed back against her hand until his arm was safely away from the counter top. "Nuh-uh. I can still do… two out of three…"

"I dunno, Nephrite," Minako said, eyes widening as he managed to gain the advantage. "In high school, she beat the whole wrestling team."

"I am not… going to lose," Nephrite repeated, and Makoto's grin faltered when he did indeed, push her arm perilously close to the counter. Both their arms were shaking.

Minako looked over at the door of the shop as someone appeared in the window, but looked back to the arm wrestling match when they passed the front door. Nephrite still had the upper hand. "Hmm… Mako you're going to make me change my bet."

"There was a bet!" Usagi gasped. "No wait, I want to bet on someone!"

Minako smirked. "Well I _did_ have 1,000 ¥ on Mako, buuuuut…"

"Then _I'll_ put 1,000 on Nephrite!" Usagi said. And then looked at Makoto, whose grin had turned to a slight grimace. "But I'll bet on you next time, Mako-chan."

Makoto's eyebrow twitched, but she didn't reply, too busy glaring at Nephrite while she tried to get her arm back into an upright position.

Nephrite's eyes looked bright as he grinned at their clasped hands. "You know Mako," he said, "You can always say you let me win."

Makoto's nostrils flared. "I. Am. Not. Out. _Yet!_ " and she pushed his hand back with what looked from the trembling of her arm to be a herculean effort, and with the advantage of gravity, began to inch Nephrite's arm back down towards the counter top.

The advantage swung back and forth for five more minutes, and both Mina and Usagi had begun to sweat. Nephrite had the advantage back when the bell above the front door chimed.

"Mamo-chan!"

Nephrite happened to be facing the door. "Your Majesty!" he said, and lost his grip.

" _HA!_ " Makoto shouted, forcing his arm back and slamming it into the counter. It made the pastry trays in the case rattle. "Take that!" She stood up and put her hands on her hips, before realizing someone had come in the door. "Oh!" she whirled around. "Hi, Mamoru."

"Hi," he said, and smiled apologetically at Nephrite, as he wrapped one arm around Usagi. "Sorry if I lost you that match."

Nephrite waved his hand. "I have lost many times before," he said. "One more match is nothing."

"But for _me_ it's 1000 ¥!" Mina cheered, and stepped close to Mako, clapping her on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping me trick Usagi," Mina said solemnly. "I knew you couldn't lose a match."

"No, p-problem." Mako grinned putting her arms behind her to hide the fact that her right one was shaking. "Was totally winning the whole time."

Mina grinned and stuck her hand out to Usagi. "Cough it up!"

"We can still go again!" Nephrite said, turning to Makoto. "It's still best two out of three. Left arm?"

"You'll have to pick it up later," Mamoru interrupted, and it was then that Nephrite noticed the other Shittenou waiting outside the windows of the shop.

Nephrite and the senshi straightened up. "A mission," Nephrite said, transforming on the spot.

"What can we do?" Usagi asked Mamoru.

"Nothing for now," he said, smiling at her as she stepped back. "I thought of a plan that might help us with the sunspots, but I need to travel to Elysion to do it," he nodded to Nephrite. "And I need all of you to teleport… and help me."

"Absolutely," Nephrite said. He straightened and whipped out his arm so his blue cape would snap behind him. Makoto eyed him with a smirk.

"The sunspots may notice," Mamoru told the senshi. "Be prepared for them to come up to the surface."

Usagi's eyes widened. "You found a way to awaken the Earth," she breathed.

And Mamoru grinned. "I might have." And he leaned down and kissed her. "At least I hope so." He held her shoulders as his face turned serious. "I'm going to do everything I can."

Usagi smiled. "I know." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him again. "I believe in you, Mamo-chan."

Nephrite blew a kiss to Mako as he approached Kunzite, who was waving them all out of the shop.

"So we're going to Elysion?" Nephrite asked when Tuxedo Mask emerged from the bakery.

Tuxedo Mask nodded and held his hand out between the four of them. Kunzite immediately covered it with his own.

Mamoru looked to the other three Shittenou. "Guarding Elysion while I try this will be your job," he said. "Can I count on you?"

"Absolutely," Zoisite said, and Jadeite and Nephrite nodded. They put their hands over Kunzite's.

In a flash, they were down in Elysion, a few feet from the golden obelisk.

"My King?" Helios called, running out of the temple and bowing as the Shittenou separated.

"I have an idea," Tuxedo Mask told him. He nodded to his Shittenou. "I need each of you up on one of the roofs," he said. "This might draw the sunspots attention to Elysion's location... if it does."

"You can count on us your majesty," Kunzite said, nodding to his team. "Lets go."

They leapt up, Nephrite onto the roof behind Mamoru and Helios. "Nephrite Power," he whispered, spreading his hands to pass his power along to Zoisite and Jadeite. Their power formed a dome within Elysion's bubble, protecting Tuxedo Mask, Helios, and the obelisk in the cloister below.

As soon as Tuxedo Mask saw that the four of them were too caught up in their magic to interfere quickly, he turned and strode up to the obelisk, putting his palm against the cool crystal. "This goes all the way to the core?" he confirmed with Helios.

"Y-your majesty," Helios sputtered.

"Well?"

"Yes, only the magic was cut off... but you'll only exhaust yourself if you try again."

"I'm not trying to fill it with magic," Mamoru said.

"Then what?"

"I just needed to know it was a good route down." He took a breath and a wind whipped up around the cloister. The Golden Crystal under his collar began to glow.

"Wait - My King." Helios reached out and grabbed his arm tightly as his form began to glow. "You absolutely cannot!"

"I'm going to Earth's core," Tuxedo Mask said, closing his eyes. "I'm giving it back."

"The core will kill you!"

"Then that's the price for my family stealing it," he said to Helios, who held fast to his arm. "We hurt the Earth... we changed what should have been. And they'll never get this enemy if I keep this crystal."

"But... but Chibiusa."

"If she's meant to exist, I'm sure the Earth will find some way to make it so," he said.

"My K-Mamoru," Helios said, trying to tug him back.

Tuxedo Mask smiled and opened his eyes, dark and solemn blue.

"Please Helios. I have to do what a Senshi would do," he declared. "I have to make things right."

Helios stared at him, but released his arm.

"Mamoru!" They heard Kunzite call.

"This'll work," Tuxedo Mask promised. He closed his eyes. The obelisk filled with blinding golden light, just as he did, and the wind whipped faster around Elysion.

For a moment, Helios smelled roses on the air.

Then the gold power faded, leaving only a faint glow within the obelisk.

And only a few rose petals drifted down to the spot where the King had stood.

Helios closed his eyes as the Shittenou above shouted and dropped their shield. He knelt beside the obelisk and put his forehead to the crystal.

And he began to pray.

~ _AgeofAquarius_ ~

Makoto, Mina, and Usagi were transferring the latest batch of croissants into the display case (after taste testing 10 in the name of a quality check) when the bell above the shop door chimed

They looked up. Instead of a person, three balls of starlight had sailed into the shop, each a faintly blue hue. They sailed around Makoto as she frowned and lifted her hand.

The three lights hovered right over her palm." _Mako_!" Nephrite's voice rang out of them. " _It's Mamoru."_

Usagi gasped.

 _"He's gone down to Earth's core."_

"What's he thinking?" Makoto exploded, looking at the other two.

Mina already had her communicator out.

"There's an emergency in Elysion," she said. "Jupiter, Moon and I are going down,"

" _The sunspots still might come to the surface_ ," Nephrite's voice warned

"Everyone else on standby," Mina ordered. "Might be seeing a bit of a light show." She snapped her communicator shut and transformed.

"Let's go!" Sailor held out her hand. Jupiter and Venus placed their own a top hers.

 _"Sailor Teleport!"_

The second they touched down in Elysion, Sailor Moon broke away, sprinting to the obelisk by which Helios knelt.

She put her hands on it. "Mamo-chan!"

"He used that to travel down," Helios rasped. "He's trying to give the Golden Crystal back."

Sailor Moon gasped, hands curling against the face of the softly glowing obelisk. "But then he won't have any power!" She bit her lip. "It'll burn him up."

"He still felt it was wrong for him to keep it."

Sailor Moon wrinkled her nose. "Oh no." She directed her glare at the obelisk. "Listen you, I have planned too much of this wedding for you to take Mamo-chan away." She closed her eyes. "You're gonna take me to him right now." she could just feel his energy if she stretched far enough. Directly below... deep, down below.

 _I'm coming, Mamo-chan,_ she thought. " _Sailor Teleport!"_

"Usagi!" Venus darted forwards, hand slamming into the obelisk as Sailor Moon turned to a wisp of white light and rushed into it. Venus banged her fist on it.

Below her feet, the ground rumbled.

Jupiter clapped her shoulder. "Give them a few minutes," she said. "They've done the impossible before now."

"I know," Venus sighed, thudding her forehead against the obelisk. "They're getting too cocky about it."

Deep down below Elysion, hundreds of miles below the mantle, Sailor Moon emerged from the base of the obelisk into a world of golden light nearly as blinding as the sun in her dream. "Mamo-chan!" She screamed when she saw him meters ahead and stretched out her magic, surrounding him and herself in a bubble of the silver crystal's power.

He rounded on her. "Usako."

"I can't let you do this," she sniffed. "What if it kills you?"

"That doesn't matter," he whispered, reaching out when she began to cry. She threw herself at him, cinching her arms around his waist.

"I can't worry whether I'll live or die when the situation now is so dire," Tuxedo Mask said, hugging her tightly. He waved his hand towards Earth's core. "Look at it."

She did, and gasped. Where she would have thought Earth's iron core would look red, before her was a barely spinning, grey sphere, the shadows of the sunspots swirling in bands beneath its surface. Sailor Moon tightened her grip on Tuxedo Mask.

"You've given yourself up for the Earth so many times," he said, staring towards the cool, damaged core of their world. He turned and smiled at her. "Surely you can see this is what I have to do."

"But... but Chibiusa,"

"You'll have her. I promise. You'll find a way." He smiled. "And you don't know that I'll die,"

"You could."

"So I should let the sunspots wreak havoc and keep this crystal when I have no right to it?" He cupped her face.

"But Helios said it chose you."

"I know... and I know why now," he looked towards the searing core outside. "The Crystal knew I'd be the one to give it back." He looked back at her when she still did not let go. "Usako, I feel that this is right," he stressed. "You have to trust me."

She bit her lip, and stood up on her toes, pulling him into a hard, bruising kiss that left them gasping when they pulled apart.

"This will work," he told her, walking to the edge of her protective bubble of magic. He put his hand on it. "Trust me."

She stared past him at the grey core and the shadows swirling within it who had yet to wake, or yet to notice them.

They had to get the sunspots out…

Sailor Moon closed her eyes, nodded, and let her protection fall away. She flew close to Tuxedo Mask as he walked, coated in gold magic over the top of the core. His eyes looked gold as he plucked the Golden Crystal on its chain from around his neck. "I'm sorry you've been hurt so long," he whispered. He let the crystal fall, its chain melting away moments before it merged with the Earth.

Sailor Moon darted in quickly, snatching Tuxedo Mask under the shoulders and flying him up away from the core. She gasped as Tuxedo Mask's uniform faded into his blue tee shirt and jeans, and threw up another protective sphere around the two of them.

"My power's gone," he said as Usagi released him. "Something's happening in there."

The grey core in front of them was humming. As a golden glow spread through it, it began to spin faster and faster, pulsing and turning from gold to golden-white.

They flinched as a pulse of fire exploded out from it – expelling the shadows of the sunspots who raced from the flares of molten fire and up into the mantle. Mamoru and Sailor Moon shielded their eyes as the bright, white light swallowed their bubble of magic whole.

Sailor Moon gripped his arm tightly as the core's power swirled around her shield, bright light – molten metal and rock – flowing over it. The both of them stared as it pulled back, gathering into the molten-gold form of a person – a curvy woman whose feet melded back into the molten material around her. She pressed her palms against the shield, eyes – blazing points of light – gazing meaningfully through the barrier.

Mamoru stepped forwards, eyes transfixed by the figure outside.

"Mamo, wait!" Sailor Moon said. "You'll get burnt up!"

"It's alright…" he said, tugging away from her.

But she held fast to his arm. Her mouth was a thin, stubborn line. "You don't know what it wants." She said. "It could eat you."

"It won't…" he whispered, tugging away from her again. He was close enough to lift his hand and place it on the face of the shield, palm-to-palm with the being outside. "She wants to see me."

"Mamo…"

He turned and looked down at her. "Trust me, Usako."

She bit her lip, but let her fingers slip from the sleeve of his coat as he tugged his arm away. She stepped back, and summoned her sceptre, clenching it in both hands. She let the shield of magic crumbled away around them.

It was hot beyond it – hotter than before, but the core did not burn them. Nor did the bright, molten skin of the figure who loomed over Mamoru. Sailor Moon jumped as the figure's hand reached for his face.

But she still did not burn him. Nor did his clothes seem bothered by the heat around them. In fact, Usagi's eyes widened, an aura of gold magic was reforming around him.

The expressionless figure sank lower, opening the palm of her free hand where the brightest light blazed, the outline of a crystal inside.

" _As you have before, as you will again, you have earned my faith, my son."_ The figure's blazing light eyes crinkled as her mouth twitched upwards. _"My faith… and my power's regency."_

She pressed the blazing Golden Crystal into Mamoru's hands, and moved her other hand so that she cupped his face. Usagi stared as the being leaned in and kissed Mamoru's forehead. The golden aura around him exploded outwards, as he and the molten figure merged together. The Earth's magic warping around him, reforming his suit and cape, bleaching the fabric, When the power had faded, his uniform had turned a pale lilac hue. The cufflinks on his suit had transformed to gold crescents, and his hair, Usagi stared, had taken on a darker purple color.

Mamoru turned, his eyes glowing with the Earth's magic as he stared at the golden crystal between his palms. Something materialized underneath it: a light purple staff with a white setting on the top, into which the Golden Crystal settled comfortably.

The light faded from his eyes as his hands closed around the staff. And he looked up at her.

"Serenity."

She flew forwards, noticing something still glowing beneath his fringe. She swept his hair back from his forehead and gasped.

An unmistakable golden crescent had appeared in the center of his forehead. _This is new_ , she realized as she leaned into him.

" _Endymion."_

~ _Á Suivre_ ~


End file.
